Crime & Safety
Over 40K Evacuated, Freeway Shut Down And National Park Ablaze In SoCal Wildfires
Even an island was not spared from the flames, which resulted in injuries and interstate closures.
Tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate Tuesday in Southern California as over 20,000 acres of wildfires burned across the region.
Even an island was not spared from the flames, which resulted in injuries and interstate closures.
Below are details on some of Southern California's most destructive current wildfires.
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Santa Rosa Island Fire
Size: 16,942
Containment: 26 percent
Find out what's happening in Across Californiafor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The state's largest current wildfire may have been started by a 67-year-old shipwrecked sailor who fired flares seeking help, sparking the blaze on the island, according to The New York Times. Santa Rosa Island is part of the Channel Islands National Park and home to six plant species found nowhere else on Earth.
Eleven Park Service staffers were forced to evacuate their residences, the Times reported.
Containment: 5 percent
Nearly 44,000 residents were under evacuation orders for the Sandy Fire as of about 6:15 p.m. Tuesday, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.
The blaze had also destroyed at least one home after it broke out Monday morning in a wilderness area in Simi Valley near the Ventura-Los Angeles county line.
Bain Fire
Size: 1,375 acres (updated 8:54 p.m.)
Containment: 10 percent (updated 8:54 p.m.)
The Bain Fire was the largest of multiple brush fires, prompting evacuations Tuesday in Riverside County.
The blaze erupted in Jurupa Valley, leaving four people injured, threatening dozens of homes in Riverside and prompting mandatory evacuations as of 6 p.m.
Tusil Fire
Size: 1,000 acres (updated 8:56 p.m.)
Containment: 10 percent
The Tusil Fire in Campo prompted evacuations and forced freeway closures on Tuesday.
As of about 6:15 p.m., Interstate 8 westbound was closed at Crestwood Road and I-8 eastbound was closed at Kitchen Creek Road due to the blaze, according to the California Highway Patrol. By just after 8:30 p.m., one of the westbound interstate lanes was open, but eastbound, the road remained closed, the agency said.
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