Cool Weather, Calmer Winds Become Allies of Fire Crews

Lightning strikes and Sunday-drive gawkers added to the difficulties of firefighters battling two big brush fires in Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties Sunday, but weather forecasters had encouraging words.

They predicted a continued onshore flow of cool ocean air Sunday night and this morning, with only slightly warmer temperatures this afternoon and no hot winds.

Firefighters battling the two week-old fires in the Los Padres National Forest labored to complete a fire line--an open area clear of brush--driven by fears of a return of the 100-degree-plus temperatures and gusty winds that aggravated a series of disastrous fires in Southern California during the last two weeks.

The Pilitas fire near San Luis Obispo leaped from 38,000 to 52,000 acres, dashing earlier predictions of containment Sunday. The blaze was still only 50% contained, but there was hope fire lines would be completed around the fire by early today.

‘Remote, Steep Areas’

The fire, which earlier burned seven homes and 17 outbuildings, headed into “fairly remote, steep areas,” and threatened no more structures, said Trish Keely, spokeswoman for the California Division of Forestry. She said damage from the blaze is estimated at $2.7 million.

A lightning storm that passed through the area Saturday--without dropping any rain to aid 1,800 tired firefighters--ignited several more blazes, “including four that we were concerned about, primarily in the northern part of the county,” Keely said. Three of those, which burned from 200 to 300 acres each, were fully contained Sunday afternoon, she said. The third had burned 300 acres and was 75% contained.

The usual heavy summer Sunday traffic on U.S. 101 was further swollen by crowds of people “who want to see the flames on a ridge line above the city, which is causing problems with a traffic jam,” Keely said. The San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department asked broadcast stations to advise residents to avoid using the highway.

The Wheeler blaze in Ventura County flamed through uninhabited brushland near the Santa Barbara County line between Ojai and Cuyama. The fire, which had burned 82,500 acres, including 19 homes, was 53% contained. Fire-fighting costs thus far were put at $3.7 million.

A force of 2,400 firefighters--including U.S. Forest Service crews brought from as far away as Wisconsin and Arkansas--fought fire with fire, trying to burn clear the remaining 40 miles of fire line needed to surround the blaze.

“Everything depends on the weather,” said Forest Service spokesman Jerry Little. “We’re trying to get as much as possible done before the weather changes.”

The fire was burning through the habitat of the endangered California condor, but did not threaten any condor roosting areas, he said.

“The fire may even improve things from the condors’ standpoint because it will open up the brush,” he said. “That may bring on a bigger deer population, and the deer eventually die and become condor food.”

A couple who lost everything in the Baldwin Hills fire can think of only one thing: their dog Shatzi, who was seen alive after the fire and is now missing. Part II, Page 1.