Santa Barbara County Fire Department’s Helicopter 964 airlifted 11 National Park Service employees from Santa Rosa Island on Sunday, May 17, as a wind-driven wildfire advanced toward their housing, officials said.
All personnel were flown to Oxnard Airport without injury in a swift, high-priority evacuation.
The vegetation fire ignited early Friday, May 15, on the remote oceanside of Santa Rosa Island near Ford Point in the island’s southeastern corner. Channel Islands National Park officials said the fire was first reported around 4:30 a.m. by an aircraft flying overhead. By 3 p.m. Friday, federal wildland resources were en route for suppression efforts.
As of Sunday evening, May 17, the National Park Service (NPS) reported the fire at 5,692 acres with 0% containment…