SANTA ROSA ISLAND – Just a few steps above a white sandy beach with calm, green waves, the effects of the largest fire in the history of the Channel Islands National Park are stark: Fields of island grass and chaparral have turned to ash, the land has turned black. The hillsides are a rusty red color from the desperate drops.
And when the wind blows, the wind blows like a mighty campfire – but there are no people around.
It’s been just four days since firefighters reached 100% containment of the 18,379-hectare blaze that burned nearly a third of the island and damaged many valuable resources, including the rare Torrey island pine trees.
A fallen firefighter on Santa Rosa Island is a reminder of the wildfires in Channel Islands National Park.
The remote island — about 30 miles southwest of Santa Barbara — is usually quiet, yet the silence felt almost surreal this afternoon.
The 150 firefighters who responded to the fire have returned to the mainland, and the island remains closed to the public. The only people left are a team of about a dozen park rangers and Department of the Interior scientists who are working to assess the fire damage and understand the extent of the loss.
Their findings will serve to prepare for what could be a multi-year mitigation and recovery effort.
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“There are a lot of unknowns,” said Sasha Travaglio, spokeswoman for the Santa Rosa Island Fire Burned Area Emergency Response Team, which includes a hydrologist, soil scientist, archaeologist, paleontologist and botanist. “The ecosystem of the island is very diverse and complex. There are many factors at play: the atmosphere, the tourism, the remoteness of the island.”
Still, officials say it’s early days for work on the naturally rich and culturally sensitive island
they found signs of hope.
“A lot of the fire was a combination of small, fine burns,” said Jack Oelfke, the site’s emergency response team leader. “That means the habitat and the ecosystem have to come back with time.”
They hope that includes a protected stand of Torrey pine, one of the world’s rarest pine species. Torrey pines, named after 19th century botanist John Torrey, grow naturally only on Santa Rosa Island and Torrey Pine State Park in San Diego. However, thousands of years of genetic differentiation have made this island of pine into different species, according to the National Park Service.
Kelly Singer, acting deputy fire chief of the US Wildland Fire Service’s Coastal Mountain Unit, landed on Santa Rosa Island by boat.
“Of course it burned some big trees, but then again, some were untouched,” Oelfke said. Scientists don’t know how the trees will react or recover from the fire, because the island rarely experiences flames, he said. Unlike other pines, the island of Torrey pines are fire resistant.
“We hope there will be a way to recover quickly,” said Ethan McKinley, superintendent of Channel Islands National Park, referring to the pines.
McKinley acknowledged that a large part of that recovery process — for different trees, and beyond — is “big TBD.” But fortunately, he said, the park has a “solid ecological foundation,” including two decades of population monitoring, species documentation and plant inventories that can help guide and inform next steps.
Beyond Torrey pines, five other plant species are found in Santa Rosa – meaning they don’t grow naturally anywhere else in the world. It includes Santa Rosa Island manzanita and soft-leaved paintbrush, according to the park service. It is also home to a species of lizard that is only found in the three Channel Islands; the spotted skunk that lives on just two Channel Islands; unique island fox subspecies; and several unusual birds. The island also contains many culturally important sites for the Chumash people.
Sasha Travaglio, spokesperson for the BAER (burnt emergency response team), looks at the burned areas on Santa Rosa Island.
Government officials said they were still working to better understand how the fire would have affected species, as well as the landscape, cultural sites, restoration projects and tourist services. An emergency response team for the burnt area is expected to complete its work on the island this week, before finalizing a report and making recommendations.
However, there have been good signs of island foxes and the western snowy plover, an endangered shorebird that has a large year-round population in Santa Rosa.
“More than half of the island didn’t burn, so there’s still a really good place for foxes to move,” Travaglio said. “There may be a decline in the population due to habitat loss, but the fox is likely to rise again.”
A preliminary assessment of the plover also failed to indicate any significant decline.
“It looks like the plover habitat has been less affected, which is good news,” said Travaglio, pointing to the eastern part of the island, where beaches are closed in the spring and summer to protect the birds’ habitat.
As he spoke, his eye caught sight of the new vegetation that had already appeared in the completely cultivated area.
“There are many places where native plants grow, like this native grass,” said Travaglio, smiling. “Nature is always there.”
However, recently there was a point where it seemed that all might be lost on the island of Santa Rosa.
A smartphone photo shows wildfire damage while resting on a map of Santa Rosa Island.
It was three days after a stranded sailor’s emergency fire sent flames roaring across the southern tip of Channel Islands National Park’s second-largest island.
Winds of up to 50 mph fanned the flames and severely limited the fire response by hampering boat and aircraft access to the remote island.
“There’s not much firefighters can do when you’re in high winds,” said Kelly Singer, deputy fire chief of the newly formed US Wildland Fire Service’s Coastal Mountain Unit, which led the fire response. “It’s not like we have firefighters out there, so everything is done by hand. We had to rely on Hotshot crews and small teams, 10 people”.
Still, he said they worked hard to build boundaries and hold those lines despite the fire’s acreage, 30-foot flames in some areas and uncooperative weather conditions.
On the 4th day of the battle, officials realized that the few fire crews on the ground needed air support to maintain the fire lines they were holding – however the winds did not seem to cooperate.
“It was a rough first few days of this fire,” McKinley said. “That night, I didn’t sleep… A complete fire on the island would have been the worst case scenario.”
He said there were a few “slop-overs” that night, or pockets of fire that broke out on established fire lines, but firefighters fought hard to prevent access to key park facilities, including buildings and campgrounds.
“They held the line, and we have to thank them for saving the houses, saving the island, saving the history of Santa Rosa Island,” McKinley said.
Jack Oelfke, BAER team leader for the Santa Rosa fire, walks through a burned area on Santa Rosa Island.
Fortunately, the next morning, air tankers were able to reach the island, dropping the much-needed retardant and water – both under strict limits to limit environmental damage. Then, the next day, a large “super-scooper” plane arrived and was able to drop seawater in the tropics.
“Without the support of the tanks, we probably wouldn’t have been as successful as we were,” Singer said.
The fire was first spotted on May 15 by a plane flying over the island. Although the official cause of the fire is still under investigation, the Coast Guard and witnesses told The Times that the fire was caused by a man who crashed his boat on the rocks on the south side of the island and fired emergency flares to signal for help.
The fire also destroyed two historic buildings – Johnson’s Lee Equipment Shed and Wreck Line Camp Cabin – as well as a storage building and shelter at Water Canyon Campground.
The island remains closed to the public until June 30, although the park has notified people with August 14 camping reservations that they may be cancelled.
“We will try to restore access to a certain level as quickly as possible,” said McKinley. “These places only last a generation or two if you don’t encourage the next generation to take care of them. … So encouraging the American people is part of our mission, and it’s just as important as protecting these resources.”
And inspiration is easily found in this piece of North America called the “Galapagos,” where the Pacific shimmers behind any burn scar.
“Every fire is complicated,” Travaglio said. “I’m in these wonderful places.”
But that, you know, is temporary.
