35-Acre Thousand Oaks Fire Under Control After Threatening Homes : Emergencies: The brush blaze nears a dozen luxury houses. A second blackens land in Meiners Oaks before being contained.

Fire blackened 35 acres of brush and threatened a dozen luxury homes in a Thousand Oaks canyon before firefighters were able to get it under control Thursday evening, authorities said.

Buffeted by 15-m.p.h. winds and fed by warm temperatures and low humidity, the fire blazed to within 30 yards of one home, Ventura County Fire Department spokesman John Foy said.

The three-alarm fire broke out just after 2 p.m. in a field between Skyline Drive and Willow Lane, Foy said. More than 100 firefighters, 15 engines, two helicopters and a bulldozer were brought in to combat the blaze.

The fire was 60% contained by sunset, Foy said, and full containment was expected by midnight Thursday. “The sun going down and the temperature dropping should help them immensely out there,” Foy said.

Four ground crews slowly worked their way across the hilly terrain, covering hot spots with dirt and cutting burning branches from blackened oak trees with chain saws.

As ground crews worked to get the upper hand, several area residents captured the event on film and videotape. One woman loaded possessions into the trunk of her car even as the fire receded down a hill from her home, but fire engines remained posted in front of homes in the fire zone well into the evening.

An arson investigator was called to the scene, but a cause has not been determined, Foy said, adding that no injuries were reported.

A second brush fire in Meiners Oaks burned two to three acres earlier Thursday afternoon and was fully contained by 5 p.m., Foy said.

Five engines, a bulldozer and a ground crew responded to the blaze just before 2 p.m. Thursday, but some of the firefighters were diverted to the Thousand Oaks fire.

Off-duty Ventura County firefighters were called in to help with the Thousand Oaks fire, Foy said.

A strike team of five engines and 20 firefighters from the Los Angeles County Fire Department was called in to cover stations left understaffed because of the fire. Engines from the Ventura and Oxnard fire departments also were called to staff Ventura County stations, Foy added.

Photographer Todd Bigelow contributed to this report.