Whittier Fire

Wildfire in Santa Barbara County, July 2017

Search for an address

Printed October 28, 2026 from www.firezones.info/fire/7633/whittier-fire-2017

Key facts

Started July 8, 2017
Contained December 21, 2017, after 166 days
Burned 18,412 acres
20th largest fire of 2017
Cause Miscellaneous
Buildings 40 destroyed, 7 damaged
Open map

Where it burned

County

  1. Santa Barbara County 18,409 acres

Acres are the land the fire burned in each county and community, and places where it burned less than an acre are not listed. Communities are cities, towns and the unincorporated places the Census Bureau names, so land outside any of them is counted only in its county.

Buildings damaged

  1. Destroyed Over 50% damaged 40
  2. Major damage 25 to 50% damaged 1
  3. Minor damage 10 to 25% damaged 1
  4. Affected Up to 10% damaged 5

Buildings CAL FIRE inspected after the fire, by how badly each was damaged. Inspectors record homes, businesses and outbuildings within 100 meters of the fire, and cannot always reach every one, so the counts can differ slightly from other reports.

The same land, other fires

Burned before

  1. 1921 Unnamed fire 5,553 acres in total 752 acres shared
  2. 1921 Unnamed fire 2,911 acres in total 106 acres shared
  3. 1922 Unnamed fire 3,785 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 297 acres shared
  4. 1925 Tequipas Canyon Fire 237 acres in total · Cause: Debris burning 223 acres shared
  5. 1926 Unnamed fire Cause: Miscellaneous 3,036 acres shared
  6. 1926 Unnamed fire 928 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 556 acres shared
  7. 1944 Unnamed fire 12,190 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 87 acres shared
  8. 1955 Refugio Fire 79,429 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 15,959 acres shared
  9. 2008 Gap Fire 9,545 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 75 acres shared
  10. 2016 Sherpa Fire 7,466 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 65 acres shared

Acres are the land each fire shares with the Whittier Fire, and fires that shared less than an acre are not counted. Some older or smaller fires may be missing, and a fire perimeter can include unburned patches. How to read fire history

Sources

Fire history
CAL FIRE Fire and Resource Assessment Program
Published 28 July 2026
Building damage
CAL FIRE Damage Inspection
Updated 19 October 2026

This site is independent and not affiliated with CAL FIRE or the CPUC, so for an official determination, check with the agency or your city or county. How we read the data