The Topanga Fire was a

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 ignited on September 28, 2005, in the

Santa Susana Mountains The Santa Susana Mountains are a transverse range of mountains in Southern California, north of the city of Los Angeles, in the United States. The range runs east-west, separating the San Fernando and Simi valleys on its south from the Santa Cla ...

, to the northwest of Chatsworth and 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 ...

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

History

The Topanga Fire burned a total of , injured 31 people, and cost $15.8 million to fight. The wildfire grew to more than 16,000 acres (65 km²) in 2 days, threatening homes, natural resources, power lines, and communications equipment in the Simi Hills, in eastern Ventura County, as well as the Conejo Valley region north of the Santa Monica Mountains. Experts foresaw the problem as

entered the hottest part of the fire season, with the land covered in brush that grew after the heaviest rains in over 100 years. Although the wind, dry conditions, and steep terrain made the work of

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

s difficult, the loss of property had been low (as of early October); according to news reports from Friday, September 30, one home and handful of outbuildings had been lost. Mandatory evacuations were in place, involving at least 1,500 residents of the area. On October 2, 2005, over 17,000 acres (69 km²) were burned. Furthermore, only 5% of the blaze was estimated to have been contained by the approximately 3,000 firefighters battling it. On October 6, the Topanga Fire was 100% contained, after it had expanded to .

References

External links

NASA Earth Observatory page discussing the wildfires
2005 California wildfires Wildfires in Los Angeles County, California Wildfires in Ventura County, California Santa Susana Mountains Simi Hills Agoura Hills, California Chatsworth, Los Angeles West Hills, Los Angeles Woodland Hills, Los Angeles History of the San Fernando Valley History of Simi Valley, California 2005 in Los Angeles September 2005 events in the United States October 2005 events in the United States {{wildfire-stub