SIMI VALLEY — The Sandy Fire ignited Monday morning in Simi Valley, California, north-west of Los Angeles, and has burned 1,364 acres with no containment, officials said. More than 10,000 homes have been evacuated from Simi Valley and surrounding communities, California Governor Gavin Newsom said.

A further 3,500 homes are under evacuation warnings, extending into neighboring Los Angeles County. The Simi Valley Unified School District said classes would be canceled on all of its campuses on Tuesday.

The Simi Valley Police Department said it had received a report that an individual hit a rock with a tractor, sparking the fire. Satellite images taken just after noon local time on Monday showed a large plume of smoke rising into the air just south of Simi Valley, and satellite imagery showed two wildfires spreading in southern California.

The spread of the Sandy Fire was helped by high winds on Monday morning that eased later in the day, a fire department spokesperson said. Data from NASA's wildfire monitoring platform showed active hotspots moving further south overnight into Tuesday.

California fire officials said on Tuesday morning that 750 firefighters were being supported by night-flying water-dropping helicopters to target hotspots. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said officials don't expect the blaze to spread to the city but warnings have been issued out of an abundance of caution.

Around 30 people were killed and more than 10,000 homes were destroyed in fires that broke out in the Los Angeles area in January 2025, providing context for the heightened evacuation response to the Sandy Fire.