Overview
- The fire has burned roughly 17,000–17,500 acres on Santa Rosa Island and is the largest active wildfire in California this year, with containment improved to about 44 percent.
- Fire crews staged by landing craft and used water‑scooping airtankers, unmanned aircraft and Type‑6 engines to protect the Main Ranch Complex, cool ridge lines and build containment on steep, remote terrain.
- Two uninhabited historic structures and an adjacent storage building have been confirmed destroyed and initial aerial assessments found the island’s rare Torrey pines largely intact though small pockets sustained high‑intensity burns.
- The blaze was first reported after an aircraft sighting on Friday, May 15, and the Coast Guard rescued a 67‑year‑old mariner whose grounded, burning vessel and later‑fired SOS flares are under active review by investigators.
- Multiple mainland Southern California fires have forced evacuations, caused injuries and thrown smoke across the region, prompting air‑quality alerts that affect millions and complicate firefighting and public health responses.