In the wake of this week’s strong winter storm, the 281,893-acre Thomas Fire was declared fully contained on Friday.
The blaze broke out Dec. 4 near Santa Paula, and destroyed 1,063 structures in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, while damaging 280 others.
Two people, a firefighter and a civilian, died in the fire.
Officials conducted flights over the burn area Thursday using infrared detectors to look for any remaining hot spots before declaring the fire fully contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service, which is now overseeing the incident.
With the fire now essentially out, officials are focusing on repairing damage from the firefighting efforts, and assessing risks from flooding and debris flows. Just 13 people remain assigned to the fire.
Closures have been ordered for areas of Los Padres National Forest affected by the blaze.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.