Sandy fire and field lab a dangerous combination

When the Sandy fire tore through the hills south of Simi Valley in May, Ventura County firefighters weren't just battling wind-driven flames threatening homes. They were also racing to keep the blaze from reaching one of the region's most controversial pieces of land — the former nuclear and rocket-testing site known as the Santa Susana Field Laboratory.

The fire never crossed onto SSFL property, according to Ventura County Fire Division Chief Matt Falat, who spoke at an Aug. 12 community update hosted by the U.S. Department of Energy at its Energy Technology Engineering Center in Simi Valley. But the Simi Valley Acorn reported that the blaze came within roughly 500 feet of the property line — a margin close enough to unsettle residents and activists who have spent decades pushing for a full cleanup of the site.

How Close It Really Got

The Sandy fire ignited May 18 off Sandy Avenue and burned 2,183 acres over nine days before full containment on May 27, according to the Acorn's account of the firefight. One home was destroyed and two structures were damaged; there were no injuries or fatalities. The cause remains under investigation. Northeast winds gusting above 35 mph pushed the fire rapidly through steep terrain, forcing evacuations and drawing firefighters from multiple agencies.

Falat, who held command responsibilities during the incident, said crews initially tried to hold the fire at Runkle Canyon Fire Road, but flames "slopped over" the line. The Albertson Motorway then became a critical containment feature, because a crossing there could have put the Bell Canyon community at greater risk. Firefighters positioned resources between SSFL and Bell Canyon for the next two days.

"We knew at some point during this firefight, there would be a threat to the field lab and possibly Bell Canyon," Falat said, according to the Acorn.

While the fire stopped about 500 feet from the lab's boundary, Falat estimated the nearest buildings or infrastructure on the site were roughly 3,000 feet from where the flames halted. "The most important piece here is that the fire did not make it to the field lab," he said.

Why SSFL Raises the Stakes

The Santa Susana Field Laboratory is a 2,400-acre site in the Simi Hills where nuclear research and rocket-engine testing took place for decades. Boeing owns about 80% of the property — including Area IV, which the Department of Energy handles — while NASA and the DOE oversee the remainder.

Those decades of operations left chemicals, metals and radionuclides in the site's soil and groundwater, and the contamination has made SSFL a flashpoint for Simi Valley, Oak Park, Chatsworth and West Hills residents since the 1979 partial meltdown of a sodium reactor in Area IV came to broader public attention years later.

Fire adds a specific worry: scientists working with a community group focused on SSFL health and safety issues have said that when the 2018 Woolsey fire burned about 80% of the field lab, it had the potential to kick up radioactive material in contaminated soil. That history, the Acorn reported, was on responders' minds from the first night of the Sandy fire — the concern wasn't only structural damage, but the possibility of re-suspending contaminants.

The Aug. 12 DOE meeting itself underscored the ongoing tension. Outside the gathering, activists dismissed the department's claims about site safety as "bananas," according to the Acorn's coverage — a sign that trust between federal officials and parts of the community remains fragile.

A Fire Department Built for This Fight

Ventura County Fire prepares specifically for wildland incidents around SSFL. Fire Station 43 serves the field lab directly, and five additional stations support the east Simi Valley area, Falat told attendees. Mutual aid agreements with Los Angeles County and Los Angeles city fire departments add another layer of protection — agreements that proved their value during the Sandy fire, when multiple agencies scrambled to protect hillside neighborhoods.

The department's familiarity with the terrain mattered during the Sandy fire. Commanders identified Runkle Canyon Fire Road and the Albertson Motorway as defensible lines early, using roads and fuel breaks on and around the site to steer containment strategy even as winds pushed the fire in unpredictable directions.

What Comes Next

For Simi Valley residents, the Sandy fire is a reminder of two converging realities: wildfire risk in the region's hills is growing, and the cleanup of SSFL — long promised under agreements signed more than a decade ago — remains unfinished. Environmental groups and some local elected officials have continued to press Boeing, NASA and the DOE to complete soil remediation to the standards set in the 2010 administrative agreements, arguing that every fire season without full cleanup is a season of elevated risk.

The DOE, for its part, hosted the Aug. 12 community meeting as part of its ongoing outreach on conditions at the Energy Technology Engineering Center, where it manages cleanup obligations in Area IV.

The Sandy fire's cause is still under investigation. What's already clear is the margin: 500 feet between a major wildland fire and a site whose soil still carries the legacy of the nuclear and rocket age. For the firefighters who held that line — and for the neighbors who watched the smoke — that number is the story.