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| image source: CalFire Santa Rosa Island 2026-05-19 at 3.41.57 |
As of 4:30 pm Tuesday, May 19, the wildfire on Santa Rosa Island continues to burn. CalFire estimates 16,938 acres have burned so far. The fire is being fought by federal fire fighters and, today, winds have decreased allowing aircraft to assist with firefighting. (CalFire is not fighting this fire, but their website is posting updates)
While the ignition of the wildfire is officially under investigation, the blaze was most likely human-caused. Early Friday morning, flames spread quickly through dry grassland vegetation.
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| photo source: USCG Air Station Ventura Coast |
When similar wildfire events have occurred on other Channel Islands, adult island foxes have been able to flee the fire's edge and survive. (Burnie Boots - 2007) We are hopeful that the same will be true in this case.
Unfortunately, pups born in April are currently in dens and not able to flee. In other spring-time wildfire events, pups did not survive. It is highly likely that fox pups in the fire zone will be lost.
Santa Rosa Island foxes are currently at carrying capacity for the island. The 2025 population was estimated at over 2,000 individuals. While this will most likely cause a temporary decline in the island population, island foxes and island spotted skunks have shown resilience to wildfire. Following smaller wildfire events both species have been quick to return to burned territories and able to find food resources.
Santa Rosa is the only island were island foxes are currently monitored and studied with GPS collars. These GPS-collared individuals may provide insight into exactly how island foxes react in the face of wildfire. This data may help us understand what is important for them to survive fire events.
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| Island fox on Santa Rosa Island |
Our thoughts are with our National Park friends as they work to protect rare plants, like the Santa Rosa Island Torrey pine and other endemic island species, and to preserve infrastructure that enables biologists and researchers to study the island ecosystem.
