3 County Fires Nearly Contained : Investigation: Officials believe the blazes were set deliberately. But they uncover no

Three wildfires that scorched almost 2,200 acres around Santa Paula and Fillmore were near containment Wednesday as investigators intensified efforts to find out who set them.

“Basically, we don’t know a heck of a lot,” Robert Holaway, deputy chief of the Ventura County Fire Department, said late Wednesday.

But investigators said they feel certain that the fires were arson, and “there’s a strong possibility that all three were set by the same person,” department spokeswoman Shonna Perry said.

None of the blazes caused any structural damage, and only two minor injuries were reported, both to firefighters.

By late Wednesday, officials said, the fires were almost contained, or surrounded by secure fire lines. Crews from outside the county were breaking camp at Steckel Park north of Santa Paula and returning to their home bases, a Fire Department dispatcher said.

The South Mountain blaze, which burned 657 acres southeast of Santa Paula, was 95% contained, whereas the Mupu fire, which scorched 750 acres north of the city, was 85% contained, officials said.

The third blaze, which began near Shiells Canyon southeast of Fillmore, also was 85% contained after burning 750 acres. With the slackening of the Santa Ana winds, firefighters expected no problems bringing any of the fires under control.

The absence of strong winds prompted the department to cancel the “red flag warning” it had issued Monday. The warning is both an alert to department personnel and a notice to the public of acute fire danger.

Although the warning was canceled, Holaway said, the season for Santa Ana winds is just beginning, increasing the risk of serious brush fires.

“No question, until we get some rain, the problem is still there. Right now, there’s a lot of danger. It’s really dry.”

Holaway said investigators have uncovered no hard evidence of arson--no lighter or other incendiary device, for example, or any witnesses. But all potential accidental causes, such as lightning, have been eliminated.

“In the absence of a cause, you assume arson,” Holaway said.

Perry noted that all three fires began along roadsides.

The South Mountain blaze began at 10:55 p.m. Monday about two miles east of Santa Paula on the south side of South Mountain Road. The Mupu fire started about 8:15 a.m. Tuesday on the west side of California 150 about 1 1/2 miles north of Santa Paula. The Shiells fire began about 5 p.m. Tuesday on the south side of Guiberson Road, a few miles east of Fillmore.

“Somebody must have seen the perpetrator,” Perry said, adding that investigators urge anyone who saw suspicious activity to call the department.

Holaway said an arsonist may have been inspired by television coverage of windblown fires in Los Angeles and Riverside counties on Monday. “It seems like one brings out another,” he said.

Arson investigator Larry Titus said the decreased winds may deter an arsonist from striking again. “A person who starts wildfires usually likes the east winds because they can get a bigger fire in a hurry,” Titus said.

About 980 firefighters were working the fires Wednesday, down from a peak of about 1,500 on Tuesday, officials said.

Holaway gave credit to Battalion Chief Dale Miller, who supervised the firefighting efforts, for quickly calling in help from other agencies. By midday Tuesday, Miller had put out a call for about 1,000 additional firefighters, along with bulldozers, helicopters and planes.

“Sometimes that equipment has to come from long distances, so if you don’t get it on the road early, you may not have it when you need it,” Holaway said.

Assisting in the effort were units from the U.S. Forest Service, the California Division of Forestry and the California Youth Authority, the Los Angeles County and Santa Barbara County fire departments, and city departments from Santa Paula, Fillmore, Ventura, Oxnard, Burbank, Los Angeles and Manhattan Beach.

No estimate of the cost of fighting the blazes was available, but Holaway said the state, not Ventura County, will bear most of the expense. The state is responsible for protecting both public and private property that is not cultivated or populated and lies outside a city or county fire department’s jurisdiction.

“We’re pleased with the cooperation of all the agencies,” Holaway said. “They were readily available, and we appreciate that. We’re fortunate that no other major fires were going in Southern California.”

The Ventura County Department of Animal Regulation also helped out, deploying 21 people as the Shiells fire threatened three kennels and the Mupu fire endangered about 200 birds housed in an aviary at Steckel Park.

“We were just waiting to evacuate if the need arose,” said Kathy Jenks, the county’s animal control director. “They got lucky.”

On Wednesday, her agency sent crews to the perimeter of the fires to look for lost or injured wildlife. “Sometimes young ones are separated from their parents,” Jenks said. “In the next few days, we’ll probably find a few.”

A few lost bear cubs, she said, were found after the 1985 Ferndale-Wheeler fire in the same area. Any wild animals that turn up are given to the California Department of Fish and Game for rehabilitation.

In the long run, brush fires tend to be an environmental blessing, said Larry Sitton, Southern California wildlife management supervisor for the Department of Fish and Game.

“We look at this as a benefit for wildlife rather than a catastrophe,” Sitton said. In the fall, birds and other animals have raised their young, and most wildlife can escape a brush fire, he said. The fire clears out thick undergrowth and allows new vegetation to grow more easily, fertilized by phosphates released by the fire.

“Within a couple weeks of the first rain, you see some sprouting, especially in the burned areas,” Sitton said.

Large brush fires can hurt fish, however, if too much sediment is washed into creeks, altering the acidity of the water.

Two weather factors make October and November a period of high risk for serious brush fires in Southern California:

Santa Ana winds--the hot, extremely dry winds that fanned this week’s fires with gusts as high as 40 m.p.h.--are predicted to recur periodically throughout the fall and winter.

Dry conditions. Winter rains that would reduce the risk of fires rarely begin before mid-November.

A mild Santa Ana could hit Southern California as soon as Monday or Tuesday, said Ken German, a meteorologist for WeatherData Inc. “There is an indication of another front system coming in,” he said, adding that any Santa Anas caused by the system would be weak compared to this week’s winds.

Times staff writer Santiago O’Donnell contributed to this story.