Home » Santa Clarita News » Public Safety » Santa Clarita Remembers The Sand Fire Three Years Later
An image captured by NASA's Terra satellite on July 23, 2016, the red outlined area indicated likely wildfire hot spots. (Image courtesy of NASA)

Santa Clarita Remembers The Sand Fire Three Years Later

The Sand Fire, which burned for nearly two weeks and consumed more than 41,000 acres during the summer of 2016, first began three years ago Monday.

The fire prompted the declaration of a state of emergency in Los Angeles County and resulted in the death of at least one individual and the destruction of several homes.

“Well, it’s one of the worst fires we’ve ever had that I can recall in this valley,” said Santa Clarita City Councilmember Laurene Weste. “I’m just grateful we haven’t had anything like that since.”

At the time of the fire, Santa Clarita was experiencing temperatures upwards of 100 degrees, even pushing above 110 degrees some days.

Contributing to the devastation were the high winds, which, at times, ranged from 10 to 20 miles per hour over the course of the fire.

See Related: Sand Fire Firefighter Awarded Medal Of Valor For Saving Sand Canyon Woman

“I remember in the early moments of the fire hoping it wasn’t going to turn into what it turned into,” said Stephanie English, field deputy for Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger. “I remember how fast it moved and the winds, just the destructive force of nature under those weather conditions made it brutal.”

The Sand Fire was finally confirmed to have reached 100 percent containment by fire officials on Aug. 3, 2016.

“The impact has not left our memories. People’s lives were very seriously impacted,” English said. “But it’s comforting to know the strength of our fire department and our LA County resources is second to none. So we know the level of expertise we have with our wildland firefighters and are really proud of the work they do.”

Local officials are still concerned about ensuring the community’s preparedness in the event of another wildfire of this magnitude, as Assemblywoman Christy Smith, D-Santa Clarita, held a wildfire town hall on Saturday.

Similarly, State Senator Scott Wilk, R-Santa Clarita, Assemblyman Tom Lackey, R-Palmdale,  and Los Angeles County Fifth District Supervisor Kathryn Barger are hosting a wildfire safety town hall Monday evening.

Related: Town Hall Meeting Set To Discuss Wildfire Safety

Smith noted that the state government has taken steps to help increase wildfire preparedness, as Governor Gavin Newsome secured additional funding for wildfire mitigation, which will fund the addition of two new, specially equipped helicopters as well as air tankers and new alert systems.

“I think we all remember how devastating that was to our community with the tragic loss of life,” said Smith. “Our firefighters mitigated loss of property, and we will always come together as a community, but to the extent we can be mindful and stay prepared, we must.”

In that spirit, Smith encouraged community residents to sign up for Alert L.A. County and Nixle online, which both provide notifications from local police and fire officials on the latest emergency updates, shelter information, evacuation information and other related updates.

Additionally, Smith pointed to the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s “Ready! Set! Go!” wildfire action plan as an excellent resource to ensure personal preparedness for the event of a wildfire, more information on the program is available here.

“I’m just very proud of the Santa Clarita Valley, we’ve weathered a lot of disasters in this valley and we’ve always stayed together and supported each other,” Weste said. “It’s an honor to be a part of the Santa Clarita Valley community that is so strong and resilient.”


Sponsored Articles


Do you have a news tip? Call us at (661) 298-1220, or send an email to newstip@hometownstation.com. Don’t miss a thing. Get breaking KHTS Santa Clarita News Alerts delivered right to your inbox. Report a typo or error, email Corrections@hometownstation.com

KHTS FM 98.1 and AM 1220 is Santa Clarita’s only local radio station. KHTS mixes in a combination of news, traffic, sports, and features along with your favorite adult contemporary hits. Santa Clarita news and features are delivered throughout the day over our airwaves, on our website and through a variety of social media platforms. Our KHTS national award-winning daily news briefs are now read daily by 34,000+ residents. A vibrant member of the Santa Clarita community, the KHTS broadcast signal reaches all of the Santa Clarita Valley and parts of the high desert communities located in the Antelope Valley. The station streams its talk shows over the web, reaching a potentially worldwide audience. Follow @KHTSRadio on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

KHTS FM 98.1 & AM 1220 - Santa Clarita News - Santa Clarita Radio

Santa Clarita Remembers The Sand Fire Three Years Later

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

About Wyatt Smith

Wyatt was born and raised in Santa Clarita. After graduating from Hart High School in 2012, he continued his studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he earned a degree in applied statistics. After a year and a half working in the digital advertising industry, Wyatt left his previous field of work to pursue his interest in writing.