A 4th Brush Fire Blamed on Arson

Hot east winds fanned an arsonist-set fire east of Santa Paula on Sunday, but crews who were on standby in the area quickly contained the brush fire before it approached nearby houses, Ventura County Fire Department officials said.

The 1,000-square-foot blaze just north of California 126 was deliberately set, but no evidence was found to link it to the three fires of Oct. 8 and 9 started by arson in the Santa Paula and Fillmore areas, county fire investigator David Chovanec said.

The Oct. 8 and 9 fires consumed 2,200 acres north and south of Santa Paula and south of Fillmore during similar weather conditions that included blustery Santa Ana winds, dry hillsides from the fourth year of drought and low humidity in the air and brush.

Sunday’s small blaze was quickly knocked down as a water truck from the county’s Fillmore station arrived soon after a Telegraph Road resident reported the flames at 1:22 p.m., Capt. Christopher Johnston said.

Johnston said the department was ready over the weekend, waiting for an arsonist’s attack with extra trucks and crews on standby status.

“The arsonist we have has been doing things on a regular basis and today is a typical day for him to light a fire,” Johnston said Sunday as his fire crew drenched the area to squelch any smoldering brush or wood.

Sunday’s dry winds also fueled a Simi Valley house fire, causing nearly $150,000 damage, fire dispatcher Dennis Miller said.

The 2:33 a.m. fire at the Tapo Street home of William and Dawn Smith and their two children began in a pool supply shed attached to the two-story house with a flammable shake roof. Two firefighters were injured, but the family escaped the house unharmed. The family dog died in the fire in a downstairs bedroom, Miller said.

A second small brush fire, spotted at 6:05 p.m. Sunday in the rural canyon area along Yerba Buena Road two miles north of Circle X Ranch near the Los Angeles County line, was nearly out by 7 p.m., a county fire dispatcher said. The cause of the fire, which was held to a 10th of an acre by the dirt roads that surrounded it, was also under investigation.

Fire danger was expected to diminish today as cool, moist ocean breezes replace dry Santa Ana winds and humidity levels rise slightly to 12% to 18% in the inland valleys, Ventura County Fire Department officials said. Temperatures were expected to fall slightly to the low- to mid-70s on the coast and to 70 to 80 degrees inland, the National Weather Service reported.

But hot winds from the east are expected to return Tuesday night along with a so-called red-flag warning of fire danger from the National Weather Service, County Fire Dispatch Supervisor Sam Meier said.

Santa Ana winds will continue intermittently through March, with December being the peak month for the hot easterly winds, said meteorologist Rae Strange.