The current fire that has burned 17,554 acres of Santa Rosa Island’s 53,760 acres, or 32.7 percent, is historically significant. This fire now has the distinction of being the largest on any of the eight California Channel Islands in recorded history. Previously, a 13,000-acre blaze on San Clemente Island in July 2024 held the record, started by military exercises on the Navy island.
The fire threatens the sensitive habitat of the island’s endemic flora — Santa Rosa Island Manzanita, Santa Rosa Island Torrey Pine, Santa Rosa Island Live-forever, Hoffmann’s Gilia, Munchkin Dudleya, Island Tree Mallow; several of which are already listed as endangered species. The fire also threatens the island’s populations of rare fauna — island foxes, island spotted skunks, island deer mice, and many more.
Also concerning is the loss of history. At least three historic structures have already been confirmed lost: Johnson’s Lee Equipment Shed on the western edge of the fire and the Wreck Line Camp Cabin on the eastern edge. Additionally, a storage structure adjacent to the equipment shed was also reduced to ashes.
Even more concerning, the National Park Service is taking preventative measures to ensure the fire does not spread to the historic Main Ranch structures, a worst case situation.
The Forgotten History of Johnson’s Lee
Johnson’s Lee | Credit: Courtesy
As the only harbor on the south side of Santa Rosa Island, the name “Johnson’s Lee” harkens back to United States Coast Survey employee William M. Johnson, who was in charge of Channel Islands topographic surveys compiled in 1855, 1859, and 1860.
From 1951-1963, a large military installation was developed in response to the threat of attacks during the Cold War. It consisted of seven two-story barracks, a mess hall, a power house, a pier, three maintenance buildings, seven administrative support buildings, two water tanks, an incinerator, and a number of small sheds.
The U.S. government leased about 10 acres for this Air Force Air Control and Warning Station. It was manned until 1963 with up to 300 personnel. In 1965, the facility was abandoned, and demolition of the facility was delayed due to asbestos mitigation issues. Vail & Vickers re-purposed building materials from the site for decades, going so far as to relocate an entire building to the Main Ranch, as noted by Marla Daily, president emerita of the Santa Cruz Island Foundation.
In the early 1990s, the facility was largely torn down by Channel Islands National Park. However, a few structures, including the Johnson’s Lee Equipment Shed, were preserved for their historic and educational value.
Ford Point, or “Wreck”
Ford Point | Credit: Courtesy
Wreck Line Camp Cabin was located on the island’s southeast quarter to the east of Johnson’s Lee. The nickname “The Wreck,” comes from the 1894 stranding of the Crown of England. This served as a survey station established in 1934 by Charles K. Green, who wrote it was located on a “portion of the wood deck of a wrecked ship standing vertically in the ground 35 feet in height on Skunk Point.”
Originally, The Wreck camp was established by early ranchers Vail & Vickers to salvage lumber and materials that washed ashore from the frequent shipwrecks along the treacherous island coastlines.
Historical Significance
Johnson’s Lee plane wreck | Credit: Courtesy
The loss of Johnson’s Lee Equipment Shed amounts to the loss of the last physical structure connecting us to this long and imposing history of the Cold War–era Air Force Base.
These two structures, the Johnson’s Lee Equipment Shed and the Wreck Line Camp Cabin, were maintained as part of the island’s historical and cultural heritage after the National Park Service took over the land from the Vail ranching family.
Dr. Tim Vail, former Santa Rosa Island rancher and president of the Santa Cruz Island Foundation, said:
“In my years on the island, I can think of three or four fires on Santa Rosa Island. We know that the fires are overwhelmingly human-caused. It saddens me to see the loss of several historic buildings and irreplaceable artifacts that my family looked after for generations. Not to mention, the endangerment of several endemic plants and animals found on Santa Rosa Island — notably the Torrey pines. It is now, perhaps more than ever, important that we protect the human history of the many families that lived on these islands.”
Additionally lost in the fire was a downed plane, Stinson L-5, used by bow hunters to poach deer from the island who, after hitting a cattle wallow on the ridge top and breaking their landing gear, walked into ranch headquarters and complained that they had to make an emergency landing. They were to return the following weekend with replacement parts, but by the time they returned, the cattle had eaten the fabric off the plane’s wings.
A History of Fires on Santa Rosa Island
This is not the first instance of fire on Santa Rosa Island.
- Prehistoric Fire Evidence
During archaeological expeditions on Santa Rosa Island, researchers found burned areas where ancient peoples — 12,000 to 30,000 years ago — cooked pygmy mammoth. Controlled fire tests were conducted to study the action of ancient fires on the earth, and excavations uncovered “barbecue” pits where mammoth bone had been burned.
- 1878: Trespassing and Grass Burning
In November 1878, acting on a complaint from the More brothers, who owned the island at the time, Constable Phillips and Deputy Marshal Donnellan arrested nine men for trespassing, burning grass, shooting, and other crimes committed on Santa Rosa Island. This is one of the earliest documented fire incidents on the island in the historical record.
- 1968/9: Fatal Ranch House Fire
On November 3, 1969 [recorded elsewhere as November 3, 1968], Howard Albert Anderson (1918–1969), the cook on Santa Rosa Island, was killed in a ranch house fire. The fire was believed to have been started by Anderson’s cigarette after he had fallen asleep smoking in bed. Anderson had worked for Vail & Vickers for about six and a half years at the time of his death at age 51. The building that burned — the Bunk House/Cook House — was one of the oldest on the island, dating to the More era of the 19th century. It was a total loss. Afterward, Al Vail and Bill Wallace designed a new comedor/bunk house, famously sketching the first plans on a napkin before engaging an architect.
- 2001: Southwest Shore Brushfire
On January 26, 2001, a fire burned roughly 10 acres of grass and brush on the southwest shore of Santa Rosa Island. Crews from the National Park Service and the U.S. Forest Service battled the fire, along with two air tankers and a helicopter.
For more information on Santa Rosa Island’s history, visit Islapedia.com.
Additionally, the Chrisman California Islands Center has a large collection of archival material related to Santa Rosa Island’s ranching history, as well as many artifacts on display in the Center in downtown Carpinteria.
