Published December 28, 2017 12:10PM
Thomas Fire Started Twice
Authorities report that the Ventura and Santa Barbara County blaze had two origins.
'U.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.