October 2007 California wildfires , also known as the Fall 2007 California firestorm , were a series of about thirty wildfires ( 17 of which became major wildfires ) that began igniting across Southern California on October 20 . At least 1,500 homes were destroyed and approximately 972,147 acres ( about 3,934 km2 , or 1,520 mi2 ) of land was burned from Santa Barbara County to the U.S. – Mexico border , surpassing the October 2003 California wildfires in scope , which were estimated to have burned . The wildfires killed a total of 14 people , with nine of them dying directly from the fires ; 160 others were injured , including at least 124 firefighters . At their height , the raging fires were visible from space . These fires included the vast majority of the largest and deadliest wildfires of the 2007 California wildfire season . The only wildfire in 2007 that surpassed any of the individual October 2007 fires in size was the Zaca Fire
Zaca Fire
Zaca Fire
October 2007 California wildfires