Westmont’s Thomas Fire timeline [Chena Underhill]
Chena Underhill, Contributing Writer
Lasting from December 4 to January 12, the Thomas fire was California’s largest recorded wildfire. Record-breaking winds contributed to a fire that burned over 281,000 acres or 440 square miles, and destroyed over 1,000 structures. The following is a timeline of Westmont’s response to the Thomas Fire.
Monday, December 4
At around 6:30 pm, the Thomas fire started in Santa Paula near Thomas Aquinas College, from which the fire got its name. Although the cause of the fire is official unknown, the Southern California Edison Company was working in the area near the time of the fire’s beginning and Construction activities could have ignited dry brush in the area. From there, strong Santa Ana winds rapidly spread the fire through Ventura. Westmont College experienced power, wifi, and cell service loss throughout the night.
Tuesday, December 5
Westmont began updating the community on the status of the fire regularly by posting announcements on the front page of its website.
Wednesday, December 6
As classes at Westmont carried on as usual, the Thomas Fire continued to progress. By the afternoon, Santa Barbara had issued an air quality warning. The college administration made particulate masks available to students and staff and encouraged everyone to limit outdoor activity and physical exertion.
Thursday, December 7
The hazardous air quality in Santa Barbara led Westmont college to cancel the morning’s classes. Following an open forum led by President Bebe at 10 am, in which many students expressed fear and anger at having to go to class in such bad conditions, the college announced the cancellation of classes for the rest of the week. Students were free to leave campus and find a place with cleaner air or could opt to stay on campus and continue to study for impending finals. Westmont administrators expected students to return to school on Monday, December 10 and take their finals as planned for the duration of the week.
Saturday, December 9
In light of the Thomas Fire’s progression and the continued bad air quality on campus, President Beebe announced that students would not be returning to campus for finals. Faculty made necessary adjustments for students to take finals remotely. The approximately four-hundred students who remained on campus were expected to leave by the end of the weekend.
Sunday, December 10
After a long night, including more power outages and a faulty evacuation alert at 2:30 am, Westmont College remained just outside the voluntary evacuation zone. At 10 am, students remaining on campus gathered in the Murchison gym, checked out with their RAs, and prepared to leave campus. By the afternoon Westmont was in a voluntary evacuation zone and by the early evening it was in a mandatory evacuation zone, meaning the whole campus shut down.
Monday, December 11- December 15
As the Thomas Fire inched closer, Westmont served as a staging site for Cal Fire and strike teams. Around five-hundred firefighters and over a dozen fire trucks used Westmont as their home base. Additionally, the Westmont Fire Brigade, a group of volunteer Westmont employees trained in wildfire fighting, remained on campus working twelve hour shifts to keep campus safe.
December 16
The fire posed an immediate danger to campus. Those remaining in the area saw flames coming over the ridge in the hills directly above campus. In an intense twenty-four hours, firefighters worked tirelessly, putting out spot fires near faculty housing and right behind Page Hall.
December 17
After a harrowing day, Westmont college remained safe and the danger was a bit less pressing. Firefighters remained on campus, continuing to fight the Thomas Fire.
December 18- January 4
College officials rejoiced that Westmont was safe and the danger was passed. However, campus remained closed. The mandatory evacuation continued to be in effect for a few days. Then, the college undertook massive cleaning efforts before opening up for the spring semester.
January 7
The Westmont community gathered in chapel to celebrate the schools survival and thank community members who contributed to the campus’ safety. Unfortunately, many of the honorees were not able to attend, as they were preparing for the day’s upcoming rainstorm which would lead to Montecito’s catastrophic mudslides.
