The areas dry , warms summers often lead to high wildfire danger in Fall . An example of this is the massive Thomas Fire , which started in Ventura County and rapidly spread into southern Santa Barbara County in December 2017 . At the time , the fire was the largest wildfire ever to burn in California in terms of geographical size , but was topped only 8 months later in the Mendocino Complex Fire in northern California . Heavy rainfall occurred the following January , causing massive mudslides and debris flows from the steep , fire-denuded hillsides . The community of Montecito was especially hard-hit . As of February 3 , 2018 , 21 are known dead and 2 are still missing
Mendocino Complex Fire
Mendocino Complex Fire
Santa Barbara County, California