Last updated: 2026-05-19 --- The type of incident is Wildfire and involves the following unit(s) Channel Islands National Park. --- State: California --- Coordinates: Latitude: 33° 55 2 Longitude: 120° 5 10 --- NOTE: All fire perimeters and points are approximations. --- Incident Overview: Current Situation – May 19, 2026Today, with the arrival of additional firefighters to the island and favorable weather to use aircraft, the fire’s growth was limited much more than previous days. Containment has increased to 26%.On the northeastern edge of the fire, the firefighters continued working on defensible space preparation of the structures in the Main Ranch Complex. This was done using a combination of hand tools and heavy equipment. Fire hose lays were established around critical structures with emergency water pumps brought in and connected to a 100,000-gallon water system. Wind conditions improved to the levels that several aircraft were ordered and made multiple water and fire-retardant drops on the fire. This included the use of large airtankers such as a modified Boeing 737 that can drop up to 4,000 gallons of water or retardant in a single pass. Fire retardant was used adjacent to the Main Ranch Complex and park housing structures. South of the Main Ranch Complex, firefighters worked along Telephone Road between Main (Soledad) Road towards Cherry Canyon. With support of aircraft, firefighters were able to use direct suppression tactics along this line. Tonight, firefighters will continue along the Cherry Canyon Trail adding containment line down to the junction with Main (Soledad) Road. On the eastern side of the fire footprint, the fire is less than ½ mile south of the Water Canyon Campground and has crossed to the south of the Main (Soledad) Road. The fire has moved through the Torrey Pines area on the east side of the island and continues to have a northward progression – the firefighters plan to perform a damage assessment on this critical resource Wednesday with the assistance of UAS. Firefighters reported this evening that fire has not reached the Water Canyon Campground. Water scooping aircraft dropped water to the south of the campground today as part of the suppression efforts. Along the fire’s main front on the main ridge of the island, water scooping planes dropping saltwater were used on Soledad Peak as the fire has crossed the Main (Soledad) Road there. This action helped cool the fire’s edge and slow progression further to the northwest. On the west side of the fire, a crew was able to make their way to the South Point Lighthouse and confirm that the lighthouse is still standing. On the south side of the fire, firefighters were able to determine that the fire has limited to no growth and have determined that area contained.Tomorrow, additional firefighters and equipment will arrive on the island, including a crew from Chumash Fire Department who have a special connection to the park islands as Chumash Homelands. Equipment includes specially designed wildland fire engines, smaller than normal city fire engines, which means they can access additional areas across the island and use existing non-paved dirt roads. Known as type-6 engines, they were loaded on the park landing craft today, for transportation in the morning. The unmanned aircraft system (UAS) module will be focusing on the Torrey Pine area and doing an assessment of conditions as they make their way to that part of the fire.   Background:On Friday, May 15, 2026, an aircraft flying over Santa Rosa Island in Channel Islands National Park reported a wildfire. National Park Service (NPS) staff already on the island confirmed it later that morning. The Santa Rosa Island Fire is located on the southeastern end of the island in remote and rugged terrain. This is a full-suppression human-caused wildfire and is under investigation. Closures: The National Park Service has closed Santa Rosa Island to day use and overnight use at least through this week due to the wildfire. Visitors with campground reservations at Water Canyon Campground have been notified via e-mail.Structures:There are two uninhabited historic structures in the area, Johnson’s Lee Equipment Shed on the western edge, and Wreck Line Camp Cabin on the eastern edge. Unfortunately, both have been confirmed destroyed. An additional storage structure was also destroyed adjacent to Johnson’s Lee Equipment Shed.

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