A new fire broke out in Simi Valley, California which is northwest of Los Angeles. The fire quickly went from a small fire to one that covered hundreds of acres. Mandatory evacuations were ordered this afternoon.
The fire in Simi Valley, Calif., about 40 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, began just before 11 a.m. and had grown to 720 acres by 2 p.m., according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Officials issued mandatory evacuation orders for a large swath of Simi Valley and warnings for parts of neighboring Thousand Oaks. Just after 12 p.m. on Monday, 23,825 people were under mandatory evacuation orders and 13,115 under warnings, according to a New York Times estimate of the population in the evacuation zones.
Reports are now saying the fire started when a tractor struck a rock:
A driver operating a tractor struck a rock, sparking the brush fire in Ventura County, police said.
The Simi Valley Police Department received a call around 10:17 a.m. from an individual reporting they had hit a rock with the machinery.
That spark quickly ignited the brush, which then expanded into the Sandy Fire, according to Sgt. Rick Morton. While an investigation into the incident remains ongoing, authorities do not believe criminal activity was involved, Morton said.
That small fire quickly expanded to 10 acres.
🔥The “Sandy Fire” in #SimiValley has burned at last check, 10 acres with mandatory evacuations under way. Units are being sent to the area of Rocking Horse Drive and Meander Drive for structure protection via Watch Duty. pic.twitter.com/gCS3Xv4KII
— CodeThreeNews (@CodeThreeNews) May 18, 2026
From 10 acres to 180 seemed to take about half an hour. As of an hour ago (as I write this) it had grown to 830 acres. This video is from around noon. Helicopters were already dropping water on the fire as it burned up a slope toward homes.
New Start, California: The Sandy Fire broke out this afternoon in Simi Valley, in Ventura County. Structures have already been impacted by the rapidly moving fire, and aerial and ground resources are engaged in structure protection.
— The Hotshot Wake Up (@HotshotWake) May 18, 2026
This fire has already burned over 200… pic.twitter.com/DHE6pLQOrU
The Reagan Presidential library was evacuated hours ago.
WOW: The Reagan Presidential Library has been evacuated COMPLETELY as the Sandy Fire in Simi Valley, California, is burning just 3 miles away.
— RedWave Press (@RedWavePress) May 18, 2026
Fox News: “There are some flames still burning. There is still work to do, obviously. The winds we are told are gusting right now, but… pic.twitter.com/COovORDYdT
In just the last half hour winds appear to have picked up again and the fire is now spreading quickly. You can see in this time-lapse video how the smoke gets darker.
California: Due to a recent wind shift, the Sandy Fire has picked up in activity significantly in the last 10 minutes.
— The Hotshot Wake Up (@HotshotWake) May 18, 2026
The fire is making a strong push to the Southeast now. Structures still threatened at this time, 836 acres.
4 additional large airtankers have been requested. pic.twitter.com/UipN2Kb3go
Here's the before and after just 30 minutes apart.
#Sandyfire crazy difference in 30 minutes it just blew up pic.twitter.com/OJiq4LLuRv
— Connor Wx (@wx_connor) May 18, 2026
If the fire starts moving southeast that would be bad because southeast is the general direction of the San Fernando Valley, i.e. Canoga Park, Woodland Hills, etc. But obviously this fire is changing very rapidly so there's no predicting what it might be doing a few hours from now.
There is a second fire, the burro fire, burning but that one seems to be contained at about 30 acres. I'll update this post below as these fires progress.
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