The Rey fire began around 3:15 pm on August 18th, 2016 when a dying tree fell on power lines near White Rock Campground. Within two day the fire had grown to over 10,000 acres, fueled by dense fuel buildup and erratic winds. Initially the firefighting effort proved difficult as the dense smoke plume made it difficult to determine the fire’s full size and area. Luckily, cool temperatures and nighttime marine layers allowed helicopters to more accurately judge the fire area and direction. These same weather conditions helped slow the fires growth at night and extensive fire lines along roads helped increase containment. By September 1st the fire was 96% contained and by September 16th it was extinguished. In total the blaze reached over 23,500 acres but damaged zero structures and claimed zero lives. In the aftermath, SoCal Edison and Frontier Communications were accused for being partially responsible for the fire in Court. SoCal had supposedly been aware of the danger posed by the dying tree and failed to take action. Frontier Communications also failed to conduct proper brush clearing underneath lines that went down.
