July 7th 2024.
The Lake Fire, which had been raging for two days in the rugged terrain of Santa Barbara County, had quickly become the second largest wildfire of the season in California. It was a concerning situation as the West Coast was already experiencing a heat wave and other disasters. Death Valley had just set a new record for the highest temperature ever recorded in the area, with a scorching 128 degrees. The Bay Area was also bracing for record-breaking temperatures and increased fire danger. Meanwhile, a wildfire had closed a highway leading to Yosemite National Park and was dangerously close to the historic downtown area of Mariposa. As if that wasn't enough, photos were coming in of firefighters rushing to control fires in Contra Costa County on the 4th of July.
As of Sunday afternoon, the Lake Fire had spread to cover an area of 16,452 acres and there was still 0% containment, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It had started on Friday, July 5th at around 4 p.m. near Zaca Lake, in the Los Padres National Forest. Late on Saturday, an evacuation order was issued for a 5-mile stretch of Figueroa Mountain Road and the Sawmill Basin/Figueroa Campground area. The map displayed above showed the fire perimeter in black and the evacuation zones in red. For more detailed information on the evacuations and the latest updates, people were directed to check out Santa Barbara County's emergency map.
The fire was dangerously close to the western edge of the former Michael Jackson Neverland Ranch, as well as several well-known wineries in the Foxen Canyon area. The cause of the fire was still under investigation. Interestingly, this same area had been devastated by the Zaca Fire in 2007, which at the time was the second largest wildfire ever recorded in California. That fire had started on July 4th due to sparks from a grinding tool and wasn't fully contained until Sept. 4th. Hot spots continued to burn until the end of October, leaving behind a trail of destruction that covered 240,207 acres. The firefighting efforts had resulted in 43 injuries.
As of now, the biggest fire of the 2024 season in California was the Sites fire, which had burned 19,195 acres in Colusa County last month. The state was facing a challenging fire season and everyone was urged to stay informed and take precautions to stay safe.
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