The Santa Rosa Island Fire ballooned to 17,000 acres and zero containment as of Tuesday afternoon.
Firefighters are being challenged by high winds, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
Crews on Monday rescued and evacuated 11 National Park Service employees from the island.
:The crew safely transported all personnel from employee housing—threatened with being cut off by the fire—to Oxnard Airport, with no injuries reported,” according to the Santa Barbara County Fire Department
The U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Ventura MH-60T Jayhawk aircrew initially rescued a 67-year-old mariner after his sailboat crashed into the rocks at Santa Rosa Island, Friday.
The man was uninjured and successfully hoisted after spending the night stranded on the island, according to the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard said in a post that “the sailor fired emergency flares to signal for help, which inadvertently sparked a wildfire.”
Channel Watch Marine Services Inc., which does business as TowBoatUS Ventura, said in a social media post on Tuesday that the fire may have been started by embers from the burning vessel than by flares.
“Fishing vessels reported seeing emergency flares and an individual near the fire area, along with a sailboat mast but no visible vessel, leading to speculation that the boat had sunk and the flares may have caused the fire,” the post says. The company provides rescue, salvage and assistance to boats, similar to a AAA for the ocean.
According to the mariner, the post states, the vessel ran aground on the afternoon of May 14.
“Due to heavy surf and the vessel violently striking rocks, he abandoned the boat and moved to safety ashore.,” the post states. “At approximately 3 p.m., the vessel caught fire.”
The mariner then spent the night on the island, hoping that smoke from the vessel would attract attention. The following morning, he deployed several aerial distress flares as nearby fishing vessels approached, successfully alerting boaters to his presence who made the report to the Coast Guard.
“Based on the information available at this time, Channel Watch’s preliminary understanding is that the island fire appears more likely to have originated from embers produced by the burning
vessel than from the distress flares,” the post states.
