Sunday marks the fifth year anniversary of the Thomas Fire.
The fire that burned 281,893 acres began Monday evening on Dec. 4 near Thomas Aquinas College, north of Santa Paula. Over one thousand structures, including homes, were destroyed. Firefighters would soon take control of Thomas late December, but was officially contained on January 12, 2018 thanks to rainfall.
About 1,900 firefighters and emergency responders tackled the fire with some coming from outside California, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.
The dry conditions soon turned into mudslides, wrecking havoc to towns in Santa Barbara, mainly Montecito. Ultimately, the mudslides that began on January 9, resulted in 23 deaths.