Early Monday morning on May 18, 2026 a fire in Simi Valley broke out off of Sandy Avenue burning over 2,000 acres with 90 percent containment as of May 25, 2026.
Due to the fire and numerous evacuation orders when the fire first broke out, Simi Valley Unified School District and surrounding schools had to close for multiple days with only a few days left of the school year. The district re-opened schools May 26 after Memorial Day weekend with no make-up days needed.
All evaluation orders have been lifted as of May 26, and the cause is still under investigation. The fire left minimum structural damage with one home destroyed and no fatalities.
“We’re being incredibly thorough about the mop-up process,” Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) spokesperson Andrew Dowd said.
In addition to the Sandy Fire, there were notably two other fires that erupted in Southern California around when the Sandy Fire started. The Bain Fire in Riverside County started as a small brush fire on May 19 and has since burned 1,473 acres and is at 95 percent containment.
The biggest fire out of the three in terms of damage and acres burnt was on Santa Rosa Island, a part of the iconic Channel Islands. The Santa Rosa Island Fire, while contained now at 97 percent, has burned over 18,000 acres or one third of the island as of May 25. The fire started on May 15 after a stranded sailor used flares to signal for help and the remoteness of the fire combined with high winds made it difficult to contain.The National Park Service has closed the island until June 6 to visitors as two historical structures have been damaged on the island.
The unique and rare ecosystem on Santa Rosa Island (some species that can only be found on the Channel Islands) makes the fire significant as there are concerns for the wildlife being able to survive such as the Torrey Pines that only grow in two places on Earth: the coast of San Diego and Santa Rosa Island.
“They are only found in a very small area just on the east end of Santa Rosa Island, where this fire has been concentrated. I hope they survive this event,” biologist Steve Junak said.
As fire season is underway and risk increases in the summer months, apps such as Watch Duty offer a way to keep up to date on the latest updates with fires. For more immediate information, please visit https://emergency.venturacounty.gov/.
