Wildfire at Calif. national park continues growing with 0% containment

A sailor stranded in Channel Islands National Park started California’s largest wildfire of the year so far after he set off a flare following a sailboat crash on Santa Rosa Island on Friday, according to a post from the U.S. Coast Guard.

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The 67-year-old man was stranded after his sailboat ran onto the rocks of Santa Rosa Island. The man was stranded overnight before rescue swimmers reached him the following morning at about 10:30 a.m. Images from the scene show he had written “SOS” in the charred grasslands.

“The sailor fired emergency flares to signal for help, which inadvertently sparked a wildfire that grew to 1,000 acres by Friday afternoon,” officials from the U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Ventura said in a post. 

Over 70 firefighting personnel have responded to the blaze that has scorched 14,600 acres since it started. More firefighters were expected to arrive Monday after the gale-force winds seen over the weekend finally weaken, but Monday evening, the fire remained at zero percent containment. No injuries have been reported in the fire, but two historic structures on the island, Johnson’s Lee Equipment Shed and Wreck Line Camp Cabin, were destroyed in the blaze. 

Santa Rosa Island, one of five islands within Channel Islands National Park, is located about 26 miles from the California coast and is home to six native plants that exist nowhere else in the world. 

Mike Theune, the National Park Service’s information officer for the fire, told SFGATE that firefighting personnel are focusing on protecting the Torrey pines area, as satellite imagery showed fire within half a mile of the rare species.

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“The Torrey pines are a very unique species. They’re very old,” Theune told SFGATE. “They’re found naturally only two places in the United States: on this island and also in San Diego.”

Theune said other structures, including the Vail & Vickers Ranch historic district, are also threatened by the blaze. 

The island’s 53,000 acres are mostly grassland and sandy beaches with a few groves of trees. The island is largely uninhabited, though the National Park Service has employee housing there. Eleven parks staff members were evacuated from employee housing by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department via helicopter on Sunday.

This news story has been updated.