Brush Fire Engulfs 1,400 Acres

Ventura County’s first major wildfire of the year consumed more than 1,400 acres of thick brush in Los Padres National Forest northeast of Fillmore, rained ash on Simi Valley and sent a thick column of smoke reaching miles in every direction.

The fire, which started at about 3:50 p.m. Tuesday, continued to burn out of control into the night but posed no immediate threat to homes in Fillmore or Piru about six miles away, fire officials said.

More than 240 firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service, the Ventura County Fire Department and other agencies converged on the rugged terrain to battle the blaze.

Helicopters and air tankers dropped water and fire retardant on the flames until darkness grounded them for the night. Three hand crews aided by 20 fire engines fought the slow-moving blaze at ground level during the afternoon.

After nightfall, they were joined by three more hand-crew strike teams from Los Angeles County Fire Department and additional firefighters from the California Department of Forestry.

“Some of the hand crews might work through the night,” said Joe Luna, Ventura County Fire Department spokesman. “The nighttime is a good time for them to get an upper hand during the fire.”

Nudged by a light wind, the flames worked their way north through scrub oak and brush in an area of Los Padres National Forest that had not burned since 1925, fire officials said.

“I can see a swath of smoke about a quarter-mile wide,” said Irene Morris, speaking from her home in Bardsdale, southwest of the fire. “The flames are coming over the ridge-- it’s way high up on the peaks, but it looks like it’s growing.”

Flames threatened Hopper Ranch, an abandoned building used by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service in its program to reintroduce California condors into the wild, said Capt. Wayne Ferber of the Ventura County Fire Department.

Although the fire moved through an area called the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, none of the birds were in danger from the flames, he said.

Smoke from the fire rose in a spectacular plume visible from the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys and stained the evening sky across Ventura County.

Motorists stopped along California 126 to watch the line of flames expand.

Fire officials said they had yet to determine what sparked the wildfire. A Ventura County fire investigator paired with U.S. Forest Service officials to look into its cause.

The blaze began on one of the hottest days of the summer. Temperatures exceeding 100 degrees took their toll on the ground crews working to contain the flames.

“It is dense vegetation, and the terrain is very rough,” Luna said. “It is very difficult to fight this kind of fire.”

The U.S. Forest Service on Tuesday also battled a larger blaze in the Los Padres National Forest, depleting its reserve of fire crews.

The second wildfire burned unchecked across more than 3,500 acres northeast of Santa Maria in northern Santa Barbara County. Short of personnel, Forest Service officials began sending out calls for mutual aid from the various fire departments.

* De Turenne is a correspondent and Alvarez is a staff writer. Staff writer Greg Sandoval also contributed to this story.