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Copper Fire
The Copper Fire was a wildfire in Los Angeles County, Southern California, in June 2002. After igniting on June 5 near the city of Santa Clarita, the fire burned for a week and consumed 23,407 acres (9,472 hectares), damaging wildlife habitat and historic structures in the Angeles National Forest. It was fully contained on June 12. The fire destroyed more than two dozen buildings and resulted in at least nine firefighter injuries. The federal government later sued two contractors, arguing that their negligence had sparked the fire during construction work. The suit resulted in a jury award in the government's favor of more than $36 million (equivalent to more than $51 million in 2024). The award was the first ever in the United States for environmental damages from a wildfire.
The Copper Fire burned in hot, dry, and windy conditions in medium-heavy brush in steep, inaccessible drainages—primarily in San Francisquito Canyon—among the Sierra Pelona mountains of the Transverse Ranges north of Los Angeles and south of the Antelope Valley. The fire was the fifth-largest of the 2002 California wildfire season, in which 8,171 wildfires burned a total of 538,216 acres (217,808 ha).
In the winter and spring before the Copper Fire, Southern California received very little rain, marking its fourth year of below-normal precipitation. Vegetation dryness approached record levels, and firefighters remarked on the surprising vigor of even small grass fires in the spring. It was one of the earliest fire seasons in decades; fire officials declared the beginning of fire season in mid-April in much of Southern California, a month before the usual date. By June, vegetation in Southern California was as dry as it normally was in September.
The Copper Fire began on Wednesday, June 5, 2002. That year, the Newhall County Water District had hired Merco Construction Engineers, Inc. as a general contractor to build four steel water reservoirs for a planned community housing project near Santa Clarita. Merco then subcontracted the construction of the reservoirs out to CB&I Constructors, Inc.
CB&I offered its crews a financial bonus if they completed work more quickly than planned. On the afternoon of June 5, a CB&I employee was using an electric grinder—which produces a stream of sparks and slag as it smooths and grinds metal—on the roof of one of the reservoirs. Neither CB&I nor Merco took recommended fire prevention precautions, including clearing brush 100 feet (30 m) from the tanks, spraying water on dry vegetation, or keeping someone on the ground to watch for fires while the rest of the crew worked on the roof. At approximately 2:40 p.m. PDT, sparks and hot metal fragments from the electric grinder landed in, and ignited, nearby brush. The workers spotted the fire, but it was too large to control before they had even descended to the ground.
Named for its point of ignition near Copper Hill Road, the Copper Fire quickly expanded, burning northeast. By the end of the day, the fire had burned 1,500 acres (610 ha), destroying eight non-residential buildings. Firefighter teams assembled in Green Valley, a rural community placed under a mandatory evacuation order, to protect structures.
By the morning of Thursday, June 6, the Copper Fire had burned 5,600 acres (2,300 ha). It continued to grow as the combination of high temperatures, erratic winds, and difficult terrain drove containment down from an initial 20 percent to five percent over the course of the day—this despite the efforts of a dozen aircraft and 700–1,000 firefighters. As the fire burned, it threatened to overheat electric power transmission lines connecting Southern California to Northern California, which might have caused rolling blackouts. Heat from the fire caused one of the major lines to shut down, and a second was close to that point before the fire front began to shift away from the area. At 5:00 p.m., the head of the fire crested the hills above Green Valley, and an hour later a second flank of the fire entered the canyon as firefighters fought to protect the structures there. They were partially successful: by the end of the day, the fire had burned more than 15,600 acres (6,300 ha) and had added five homes to its toll.
On Friday, June 7, the Copper Fire had burned about 23,500 acres (9,500 ha). The weather remained adverse, with high temperatures, low humidity, and continued onshore winds of up to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h). To hem the fire in, firefighters set backfires along Spunky Canyon Road. By the end of the day, the fire was 15 percent contained, largely to San Francisquito and Bouquet canyons, and a U.S. Forest Service spokesperson cautioned that it was "going to be another couple days before we get a handle on this". No further structure loss occurred after this point, with over 2,000 firefighters engaged along the 20 miles (32 km) of total fire line.
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Copper Fire
The Copper Fire was a wildfire in Los Angeles County, Southern California, in June 2002. After igniting on June 5 near the city of Santa Clarita, the fire burned for a week and consumed 23,407 acres (9,472 hectares), damaging wildlife habitat and historic structures in the Angeles National Forest. It was fully contained on June 12. The fire destroyed more than two dozen buildings and resulted in at least nine firefighter injuries. The federal government later sued two contractors, arguing that their negligence had sparked the fire during construction work. The suit resulted in a jury award in the government's favor of more than $36 million (equivalent to more than $51 million in 2024). The award was the first ever in the United States for environmental damages from a wildfire.
The Copper Fire burned in hot, dry, and windy conditions in medium-heavy brush in steep, inaccessible drainages—primarily in San Francisquito Canyon—among the Sierra Pelona mountains of the Transverse Ranges north of Los Angeles and south of the Antelope Valley. The fire was the fifth-largest of the 2002 California wildfire season, in which 8,171 wildfires burned a total of 538,216 acres (217,808 ha).
In the winter and spring before the Copper Fire, Southern California received very little rain, marking its fourth year of below-normal precipitation. Vegetation dryness approached record levels, and firefighters remarked on the surprising vigor of even small grass fires in the spring. It was one of the earliest fire seasons in decades; fire officials declared the beginning of fire season in mid-April in much of Southern California, a month before the usual date. By June, vegetation in Southern California was as dry as it normally was in September.
The Copper Fire began on Wednesday, June 5, 2002. That year, the Newhall County Water District had hired Merco Construction Engineers, Inc. as a general contractor to build four steel water reservoirs for a planned community housing project near Santa Clarita. Merco then subcontracted the construction of the reservoirs out to CB&I Constructors, Inc.
CB&I offered its crews a financial bonus if they completed work more quickly than planned. On the afternoon of June 5, a CB&I employee was using an electric grinder—which produces a stream of sparks and slag as it smooths and grinds metal—on the roof of one of the reservoirs. Neither CB&I nor Merco took recommended fire prevention precautions, including clearing brush 100 feet (30 m) from the tanks, spraying water on dry vegetation, or keeping someone on the ground to watch for fires while the rest of the crew worked on the roof. At approximately 2:40 p.m. PDT, sparks and hot metal fragments from the electric grinder landed in, and ignited, nearby brush. The workers spotted the fire, but it was too large to control before they had even descended to the ground.
Named for its point of ignition near Copper Hill Road, the Copper Fire quickly expanded, burning northeast. By the end of the day, the fire had burned 1,500 acres (610 ha), destroying eight non-residential buildings. Firefighter teams assembled in Green Valley, a rural community placed under a mandatory evacuation order, to protect structures.
By the morning of Thursday, June 6, the Copper Fire had burned 5,600 acres (2,300 ha). It continued to grow as the combination of high temperatures, erratic winds, and difficult terrain drove containment down from an initial 20 percent to five percent over the course of the day—this despite the efforts of a dozen aircraft and 700–1,000 firefighters. As the fire burned, it threatened to overheat electric power transmission lines connecting Southern California to Northern California, which might have caused rolling blackouts. Heat from the fire caused one of the major lines to shut down, and a second was close to that point before the fire front began to shift away from the area. At 5:00 p.m., the head of the fire crested the hills above Green Valley, and an hour later a second flank of the fire entered the canyon as firefighters fought to protect the structures there. They were partially successful: by the end of the day, the fire had burned more than 15,600 acres (6,300 ha) and had added five homes to its toll.
On Friday, June 7, the Copper Fire had burned about 23,500 acres (9,500 ha). The weather remained adverse, with high temperatures, low humidity, and continued onshore winds of up to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h). To hem the fire in, firefighters set backfires along Spunky Canyon Road. By the end of the day, the fire was 15 percent contained, largely to San Francisquito and Bouquet canyons, and a U.S. Forest Service spokesperson cautioned that it was "going to be another couple days before we get a handle on this". No further structure loss occurred after this point, with over 2,000 firefighters engaged along the 20 miles (32 km) of total fire line.