Woolsey Fire

On November 9, 2018 a wind-driven wildfire that had erupted a day earlier in Ventura County barreled into Los Angeles. Fanned by gusty Santa Ana winds, the Woolsey Fire quickly wrecked havoc in Malibu and parts of the northern San Fernando Valley. Across the two counties, it forced the evacuations of about 250,000 people.

By the time it was extinguished, it had decimated 1,500 buildings, killed three people, and burned 96,949 acres, including 88 percent of National Park Service land in the Santa Monica Mountains. It is the most destructive wildfire in Los Angeles County history. The cause of the fire, which ignited on the old Santa Susana Field Laboratory, remains under investigation.