A 67-year-old boater stranded on Santa Rosa Island in the Channel Islands fired distress flares to summon help. The Coast Guard helicopter arrived and rescued him safely. But those same flares appear to have sparked a wildfire that has now torched more than 10,000 acres and become California's largest fire to date.
The man's boat crashed against rocks on the island's shore on Friday, leaving him marooned overnight. He carved 'SOS' into the ground and fired at least two flares in hopes of attracting passing vessels. The strategy worked. Two separate boats noticed the signals and alerted the National Park Service to a possible stranding.
A Coast Guard helicopter already airborne in the region was diverted to extract him. The sailor was transported to Camarillo Hospital with no apparent injuries. Coast Guard spokesman Kenneth Wiese called the flare response a success on that front. "It paid off for him," Wiese said. "We were able to get him out of there."
What nobody anticipated was the fire. Authorities believe the flares ignited the blaze along the southern coast of the 53,000-acre island, though the National Park Service said it was still investigating the cause. The fire spread rapidly across the terrain, hampered by strong winds that have kept firefighters from containing it. About 60 firefighters have been assigned to the effort, but the blaze remains at zero percent containment.
The fire has destroyed two structures: Johnson's Lee Equipment Shed and Wreck Line Camp Cabin. The National Park Service closed the island to all visitors and evacuated staff on Sunday as crews fought to contain the spread.
Conservationists are especially concerned about rare plant communities on Santa Rosa. The Channel Islands support species found nowhere else on Earth, earning comparisons to the Galapagos. Santa Rosa hosts six plants found exclusively on the island. The ecosystem had been damaged for over a century by uncontrolled livestock grazing and non-native animals introduced for hunting, but removal of those animals more than a decade ago allowed native vegetation to recover. Park officials are now focused on protecting a stand of rare Torrey pines from the advancing flames.
Author James Rodriguez: "A rescue that saves one life shouldn't cost tens of thousands of acres and centuries-old ecosystems, but that's the cruel math we're facing here."
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