The Creek Fire was a large

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire ...

that burned in Kagel Canyon and the

Angeles National Forest The Angeles National Forest (ANF) of the United States Forest Service, U.S. Forest Service is located in the San Gabriel Mountains and Sierra Pelona Mountains, primarily within Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County in southern Calif ...

north of

Sylmar Sylmar is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley and is the northernmost neighborhood within the City of Los Angeles. Historically known for its profusion of sylvan olive orchards, Sylmar can trace its past to the 18th century and th ...

, a neighborhood in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, United States, and one of multiple wildfires that broke out across Southern California in December 2017. The Creek Fire burned and destroyed 123 structures, including 60 homes, before being contained on January 9, 2018, following heavy rainfall from a winter storm. The fire threatened the communities of

Santa Clarita Santa Clarita (; Spanish for "Little St. Clare") is a city in northwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. With a 2020 census population of 228,673, it is the third-largest city by population in Los Angeles County, the 17th ...

Glendale Glendale is the anglicised version of the Gaelic Gleann Dail, which means ''valley of fertile, low-lying arable land''. It may refer to: Places Australia * Glendale, New South Wales ** Stockland Glendale, a shopping centre *Glendale, Queensland, ...

, Olive View,

Lake View Terrace Lake View Terrace is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles, California.Sunland-Tujunga, Los Angeles, Sunland-Tujunga,

Shadow Hills Shadow Hills (originally Hansen Heights) is a neighborhood in the Verdugo Mountains and northeastern San Fernando Valley, within the city of Los Angeles, California. Geography Shadow Hills is in the northwestern Verdugo Mountains, near the western ...

, Sylmar,

Pacoima Pacoima (Tongva: ''Pacoinga'') is a neighborhood in Los Angeles, California. Pacoima is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the San Fernando Valley region of LA. Geography Location Pacoima is bordered by the Los Angeles districts of Mission Hill ...

, Lopez Canyon, and Kagel Canyon, as well as the

Olive View–UCLA Medical Center Olive View–UCLA Medical Center is a hospital, funded by Los Angeles County, located in the Sylmar neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. It is one of the primary healthcare delivery systems in the north San Fernando Valley, especially the area ...

. During the wildfire, 115,000 residents were forced to evacuate their homes. Map of Thomas Fire

Events

The Creek Fire was reported on December 5, 2017, at 3:44 AM PST, on Kagel Canyon Road, north of Los Angeles. By the afternoon, the fire had jumped Interstate 210 and moved into the Shadow Hills neighborhood, traveling an estimated 15 miles from its starting point in Kagel Canyon and threatening

ranch A ranch (from es, rancho/Mexican Spanish) is an area of land, including various structures, given primarily to ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle and sheep. It is a subtype of a farm. These terms are most often ...

es in the area. By the end of the day, a barn in Rancho Padilla burned, killing 30 horses that were trapped inside. The city government of Los Angeles and state governor

Jerry Brown Edmund Gerald Brown Jr. (born April 7, 1938) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as the 34th and 39th governor of California from 1975 to 1983 and 2011 to 2019. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected Secretary of S ...

declared a state of emergency, due to the Creek Fire and other fires in the area. By December 6, the Creek Fire had destroyed 15 structures, including 5 homes, and damaged 15 structures, including 8 homes. Mandatory evacuations were put in place for areas north and south of State Route 210 and portions of Kagel Canyon, Lakeview Terrace, Sunland, Sylmar, Pacoima, Lopez Canyon, and Shadow Hills. 115,000 residents were forced to evacuate. Three firefighters were injured. One was injured by a

propane tank Propane () is a three-carbon alkane with the molecular formula . It is a gas at standard temperature and pressure, but compressible to a transportable liquid. A by-product of natural gas processing and petroleum refining, it is commonly used ...

explosion, and another one was injured when a

bulldozer A bulldozer or dozer (also called a crawler) is a large, motorized machine equipped with a metal blade to the front for pushing material: soil, sand, snow, rubble, or rock during construction work. It travels most commonly on continuous track ...

rolled over. The rugged, steep terrain where the fire was burning, as well as the heavy

Santa Ana winds The Santa Ana winds (sometimes devil winds) "Scholars who have looked into the name's origins generally agree that it derives from Santa Ana Canyon, the portal where the Santa Ana River -- as well as a congested Riverside (CA-91) Freeway -- leav ...

, caused the fire to grow quickly, and also challenged firefighters. On the evening of December 7, all evacuation orders were lifted except for Limekiln Canyon. The fire had grown to by December 8, as Santa Ana winds continued to pick up across the

San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains ( es, Sierra de San Gabriel) are a mountain range located in northern Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Tr ...

, continuing to impact the control of the fire. The Angeles National Forest declared its fire danger level at "extreme" and put in place fire restrictions, including no open flames, no campfires, no BBQs, or grilling. The area of Limekiln Canyon, including Santiago Estates, remained evacuated and closed to the public. Schools remained closed in the area. Later on December 8, the Creek Fire increased in size to , while containment of the fire also increased to 70%. By December 9, 123 buildings had been destroyed, including 60 homes. Evacuations orders were ended and the

American Red Cross The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...

began providing equipment to people returning to their destroyed homes. Fire crews continue to monitor the area. Smoke advisories were declared in the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, California. Located to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it contains a large portion of the City of Los Angeles, as well as unincorporated ar ...

and the coastal areas of the county due to the Creek Fire and Skirball Fire. CAL FIRE transferred management responsibilities to the Angeles National Forest,

Los Angeles County Fire Department The Los Angeles County Fire Department (LACoFD) provides firefighting services as well as technical rescue services, hazardous materials response services and emergency medical response services for the unincorporated parts of Los Angeles County ...

, and Los Angeles Fire Department on December 11. On December 23, the fire was at and was 98% contained. Crews continued to reinforce containment lines while patrolling, as well as extinguishing hot spots, mopping up, and implementing suppression repair. On December 27, the Creek Fire was still at 98% containment. On January 9, 2018, a winter storm dropped heavy rainfall across the region, extinguishing the Creek Fire and triggering mudslides in areas heavily burned by the December 2017 wildfires. However, by 10:00 AM PST that day, mandatory evacuations for residents near the Creek Fire burn area were lifted, after the worst of the mudslide threat for the area had passed.

Investigation

Soon after the Creek Fire ignited, authorities began investigation the cause of the wildfire. Locals reported that around the time that the Creek Fire had started, early on December 5, a steel power pylon near

had snapped and sent sparks flying, which ignited the Creek Fire. However, the

Los Angeles Department of Water and Power The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) is the largest municipal utility in the United States with 8,100 megawatts of electric generating capacity (2021-2022) and delivering an average of 435 million gallons of water per day to more ...

, which owns the power lines in the area, denied that there had been any breaks in the power line, though their logs indicated that the power lines were experiencing trouble at around 4:40 AM PST.

Containment progress

References

External links

SDSC WiFire Interactive Map
- San Diego Supercomputer Center
Creek Fire Incident Information
- InciWeb
Incident Update Dec 14 2017 archived at archive.org
{{California wildfires 2017 California wildfires December 2017 Southern California wildfires Wildfires in Los Angeles County, California December 2017 events in the United States 2017 in Los Angeles Environment of Los Angeles Sylmar, Los Angeles

Events

Investigation

Containment progress

See also

References

External links