Shipwrecked sailor burns down island with rescue flare

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California's largest wildfire of the year was started by a sailor stuck on an isolated island who fired a flare gun to attract attention.

The 67-year-old was trapped on Santa Rosa Island in California's Channel Islands National Park.

The wildfire burned more than a quarter of the island, threatening rare Torrey pine trees found in only two locations in the United States.

According to the United States Coast Guard, the man became stranded after his sailboat struck rocks near Santa Rosa Island on Friday.

He remained on the island overnight before rescue crews reached him the following morning.

'The sailor fired emergency flares to signal for help, which inadvertently sparked a wildfire that grew to 1,000 acres by Friday afternoon,' officials from Coast Guard Air Station Ventura said.

Images from the scene showed the sailor had written 'SOS' in the scorched grassland.

More than 70 firefighters have been deployed to tackle the blaze, which has scorched nearly 14,600 acres since it began on Friday morning.

The fire, described by officials as human-caused, remained 0% contained on Monday.

The National Park Service said firefighting efforts had been complicated by the outbreak of several mainland fires, including the Sandy Fire in Simi Valley, which has burned more than 1,300 acres, destroyed at least one home and forced thousands of residents to evacuate.

'Today new wildfires ignited on the mainland which immediately became the priority,' the Park Service said in an incident update.

'Per policy, firefighting resources are always assigned based on the greatest threats to life, safety, and property. This prioritisation helps ensure that the most urgent needs are addressed first during rapidly evolving fire activity.'

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