OUTSIDE+ PRESALE IS ON!

Enjoy 20% off Warren Miller tickets for a limited time

LET'S GO

PRESALE IS ON!

Get 20% off Warren Miller tickets with Outside+

JOIN NOW

Thomas Fire Started Twice

Authorities report that the Ventura and Santa Barbara County blaze had two origins.

Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members! Download the app.


None
Smoke from the Thomas FireU.S. Department of Agriculture

On the night of December 4, 2017, a wildfire broke out near Thomas Aquinas College; it grew into the Thomas Fire, a 270,000-acre blaze devastating Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties. But Cal Fire authorities have confirmed that a second wildfire also started that night, about four miles away in Upper Ojai, and joined the other. The cause of the second fire is under investigation, but local residents suspect a Southern California Edison transformer exploded, sparking it off.

Popular on Backpacker