Zaca Fire
The Zaca Fire was a very large wildfire in the San Rafael Mountains, northeast of the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County, California. It was the single largest wildfire of the 2007 California wildfire season. The fire started on July 4, 2007, and by August 31, it had burned over, making it California's second largest fire in recorded history at that time after the Cedar Fire of 2003. As of 2024, it is California's 13th-largest recorded fire in modern history. The fire was contained on September 4, 2007, with the fire being brought under control on October 29, 2007.
Progression
On July 4, 2007, at 10:53 a.m. PDT, the Zaca Fire started as a result of sparks from a grinding machine at the Zaca Lake private corporate retreat, which was being used by a Zaca Lake Retreat Employee to repair a water pipe. It spread to a size of in August. By August 12, progress was being made on the fire through the combined efforts of firefighters and aircraft. Firefighters were able to turn the direction of the fire away from the Paradise Road community.The Zaca Fire neared containment on September 2. On September 4, 2007, the fire had cost $117 million to fight, and was 100% contained. Hotspots within the fire perimeter continued to burn for over another month, until the Zaca Fire was fully brought under control on October 29, 2007. Of the 43 non-fatal injuries, 2 occurred when a helicopter assigned to the incident crashed.