Zaca Fire

The Zaca Fire was a wildfire in the San Rafael Mountains, northeast of the Santa Ynez Valley in Santa Barbara County, California. It was the single largest wildfire of the 2007 California wildfire season. The fire started on July 4, 2007, and by August 31, it had burned over 240207 acre, making it California's second largest fire in recorded history at that time after the Cedar Fire of 2003. As of 2023, it is California's 12th-largest recorded fire in modern history. The fire was contained on September 4, 2007, with the fire being brought under control on October 29, 2007.

Progression
On July 4, 2007, at 10:53 a.m. PDT, the Zaca Fire started as a result of sparks from a grinding machine on private property, which was being used to repair a water pipe. It spread to a size of 240,207 acres in August. By August 12, progress was being made on the fire through the combined efforts of firefighters and aircraft. Firefighters were able to turn the direction of the fire away from the Paradise Road community.

The Zaca Fire neared containment on September 2. On September 4, 2007, the fire had cost $117 million to fight, and was 100% contained. Hotspots within the fire perimeter continued to burn for over another month, until the Zaca Fire was fully brought under control on October 29, 2007. Of the 43 non-fatal injuries, 2 occurred when a helicopter assigned to the incident crashed.

Effects
The fire had primarily burned away from populated areas in extremely steep and rugged areas of the San Rafael Mountains in the Los Padres National Forest and the Santa Ynez River Recreation Area. It only destroyed one Forest Service outbuilding. Its impacts on the environment and area water resources are not yet fully known. Many trails and campgrounds in the Dick Smith Wilderness were destroyed. Since then, a number of them have been rebuilt.