LIVE: Brush fire burns structures in Simi Valley; evacuations ordered

KTLA5 Los Angeles ^ | May 18, 2026 | Jocelyn Fiset

[deks]

Evacuations have been ordered due to a fast-moving, wind-driven brush fire that burned several structures and threatened hundreds of homes in southern Simi Valley Monday morning.

The Sandy Fire, which broke out around 10:50 a.m., originated in the 600 block of Sandy Avenue and has exploded to at least 700 acres as of 1:45 p.m. It’s 0% contained.

At least 200 firefighters are on the scene, including from Ventura County, L.A. County and CAL FIRE. They’re actively engaged in structure defense efforts, including dropping water and coordinating with ground resources to try to bring control lines in and around the fire before it spreads into the thicker vegetation in the Simi Hills.

It appears as of 1 p.m., crews have managed to steer the majority of this fire away from residential areas in Simi Valley and into unoccupied brush.

There have been no reports of any injuries at this time.

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TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: sandyfire; simivalley; venturacounty

[deks]

The fire is spreading, 0% contained, and is currently about 3 miles to the east of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.

[deks]

CAL FIRE

https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/5/18/sandy-fire

[Red Badger]

Those wind rushing through the hills are intensified by the Venturi effect and turn fires into blowtorches..........

[deks]

Spencer Pratt (campaign account on X/twitter)

Man, if only we had this around the Palisades. Perfect demonstration of how fuel breaks save lives. Keep in mind, the winds over the #SandyFire here are stronger than they were on the IA of the Palisades Fire, and yet…

[see video of fire approaching homes with an area of brush cleared....]

https://x.com/spencerpratt/status/2056462702688772508

[fidelis]

I fought many wildland fires in that very hilly region in my younger days. Up in the Santa Susana’s, the wind would pick it up, carry it somewhere else, and sometimes turn completely around. Luckily, we never lost a structure. Tough dirty work, but I remember those days fondly.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Don’t tell me. Big Ass Karen is in Africa.

[avital2]

Ventura County Fire is first-class- and Simi is home to many firefighters and police.they have an extra interest in tamping this down.

[17th Miss Regt]

Watching it from my upper window. They are doing an excellent job of controlling it.

Oh, if only we had a mayor like Karen Bass! (/sarc)

[avital2]

stay safe. i am sure they will contain it as best they can. unfortunately i live in Tarzana- so under The Karen’s thumb...

[mewzilla]

https://www.nfpa.org/education-and-research/wildfire/preparing-homes-for-wildfire

Good info at the above.

[deks]

re: “Watching it from my upper window. They are doing an excellent job of controlling it.”

Prayers up for the folks in Simi Valley and the good firefighters. Stay safe and let us know how it goes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ventura County Fire Department - Public Information Officer
https://x.com/VCFD_PIO

1h
The fire is now estimated at 720 acres with approximately 500 firefighters assigned. Aircraft continue making aggressive water and retardant drops in support of crews on the ground. Firefighters are actively defending structures while bulldozers work to establish containment lines. Mutual aid fire engines continue arriving from across the region to assist with firefighting efforts.

Evacuation orders or warnings are in effect. Please monitor http://emergency.venturacounty.gov

[deks]

A link for our FRiends in Simi Valley....

Ventura County Emergency Information

https://emergency.venturacounty.gov/

[Texas Eagle]

They better protect the Reagan Library. Hopefully the property is ringed with sprinklers.

[Texas Eagle]

Is the Reagan Library in its path?

[missthethunder]

Have a really close friend who lives on Rudolph.
Apparently, she was told to evacuate and they didn’t.
We used to live near Sycamore and Royal Avenue.
The wash is right behind our old house.
Can you tell if it’s getting better or worse?
Which way is the wind going?

[Libloather]

Is there water in the hydrants?

[deks]

See the Sandy Fire location, lower right corner, roughly 3 miles from the Ronald Reagan presidential Library (upper left).

A viable link to the INCIDENT DASHBOARD, with map, is found just below the Evacuation Orders at the link below.

Ventura County Emergency Information

https://emergency.venturacounty.gov/

The fire of about 826 acres is shown in pink (below), surrounded by the red Evacuation Order areas. ***Note that the blue-green evacuation warning area MEIC-01 on the right has now been changed to *Evacuation Order*, with an additional warning area now added below it on the east side of the fire.

Looking at the upper left open space you'll see a small white square which is the Air Force One Pavilion at the Library. There is no evacuation order or warning for it currently on the map as of 4:50 p.m. Pacific time.

[deks]

RE: "Have a really close friend who lives on Rudolph."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rudolph Drive is about 500 feet or less from the fire area (pink) boundary, but I don't know if the fire is active or spreading in that area. There are hundreds of firefighters and numerous aircraft that have been active there today 🙏

A link to the INCIDENT DASHBOARD, with map, is found just below the Evacuation Orders at this page....

https://emergency.venturacounty.gov/

[17th Miss Regt]

Library was near the path. Winds have changed, so the fire is progressing south in an easterly direction. Several areas of Bell Canyon (far west portion of San Fernando Valley) are getting ready to evacuate.

[missthethunder]

I saw that link
https://www.fire.ca.gov/incidents/2026/5/18/sandy-fire
The fire has never been that close to our old house.
We lived there from 93 to 21.