A Red Flag Warning, Sundowner wind event, extreme drought declaration, or other documented weather or climate condition that significantly elevated wildfire risk or directly contributed to fire behavior in Santa Barbara County.

Weather and climate conditions are the context in which every fire ignites and spreads. Documenting Sundowner winds, drought years, and Red Flag Warnings alongside fire events reveals how climate patterns drive the fire cycle and whether those patterns are intensifying over decades.

A federal, state, or local disaster declaration, FEMA authorization, emergency proclamation, or significant intergovernmental disaster response action related to wildfire or post-fire hazard in Santa Barbara County.

Disaster declarations unlock federal resources and define the official severity of events. Tracking which fires and hazards triggered declarations — and which did not — documents the thresholds that shape recovery and reveals patterns in how SB County's fire events register at state and federal levels.

An official evacuation order or warning, shelter activation, emergency road closure, or significant multi-agency emergency response operation related to wildfire or post-fire hazard in Santa Barbara County.

Evacuation decisions and emergency response actions directly affect lives and reveal whether preparedness planning translated into effective action. Documenting these over time exposes recurring challenges — the same neighborhoods evacuated, the same routes congested — that inform future planning.

A new law, ordinance, building code change, zoning decision, fire hazard severity zone designation, or regulatory action by a local, state, or federal agency that directly addresses wildfire risk, fire prevention, or fire-related land use in Santa Barbara County.

Policy decisions made between fires determine how vulnerable communities are when the next fire arrives. Tracking the policy timeline alongside the fire timeline reveals whether lessons were learned, repeated, or ignored across decades.

A significant insurance action, FAIR Plan enrollment change, insurer market withdrawal, claim dispute, rate increase, or documented economic loss directly resulting from wildfire or wildfire risk in Santa Barbara County.

Insurance availability and affordability shape whether communities can recover and whether residents can remain in fire-prone areas. Tracking insurance and financial impacts over time reveals the growing economic pressure that fires exert on the community between burn cycles.

A land use approval, denial, General Plan amendment, environmental review, or significant development proposal in an area designated as high or very high fire hazard severity zone within Santa Barbara County.

Development decisions in fire-prone areas are among the most consequential and contested choices in the chronicle's scope. The same foothill and canyon areas proposed for development after one fire often burn again, making the development-fire cycle a defining pattern this chronicle documents.

An arson arrest or conviction, utility liability lawsuit, government negligence claim, insurance litigation, official investigation finding, or after-action report related to wildfire or post-fire hazard in Santa Barbara County.

Legal and accountability actions determine who bears responsibility for fire causes and response failures. These proceedings often surface facts about fire origins, response decisions, and institutional failures that are not available through any other source — making them essential to a complete chronicle.

A debris flow, mudslide, flood, erosion event, or other secondary hazard directly caused by or significantly worsened by a preceding wildfire's destruction of vegetation and soil stability.

Post-fire hazards are often deadlier than the fires themselves. The 2018 Montecito debris flow demonstrated that fire and its aftermath are inseparable — documenting both reveals the full arc of consequence that shapes policy and community resilience.

A significant post-fire or post-disaster recovery action including debris removal completion, rebuilding permit issuance, community recovery plan adoption, long-term displacement milestone, or infrastructure restoration in Santa Barbara County.

Recovery defines whether a community returns to its prior state or transforms. Documenting recovery milestones alongside the original fire events reveals how long rebuilding takes, what changes in the process, and whether the rebuilt community is more or less resilient than before.

A power line ignition, Public Safety Power Shutoff, utility liability finding, infrastructure failure, or significant utility-related action connected to wildfire cause, prevention, or response in Santa Barbara County.

Utility infrastructure is both a fire cause and a fire response tool. Power line ignitions have caused major SB County fires, and power shutoffs now affect thousands of residents during fire weather. Documenting these events connects the utility-fire relationship across the chronicle's timeline.

A prescribed burn, fuel break construction, community chipping event, grazing program, or other deliberate vegetation management action intended to reduce wildfire risk in Santa Barbara County.

Vegetation management is the primary proactive tool for reducing wildfire severity. Documenting these efforts — and their gaps — connects the preparedness timeline to fire outcomes, showing whether fuel reduction work in a given area preceded or followed a fire event.

A wildfire or brush fire in Santa Barbara County that resulted in significant acreage burned, structures damaged or destroyed, evacuations ordered, injuries, fatalities, or required multi-agency response. Includes named fires and significant unnamed incidents.

Wildfire events are the core subject of this chronicle. Documenting each significant fire with verified details creates the foundation for understanding recurring patterns across the same landscapes and communities over decades.