THOUSAND OAKS : Church Billed for Costs of Brush Fire

The Ventura County Fire Department has billed a Seventh-day Adventist church in Thousand Oaks $19,978 to cover the cost of fighting a brush fire set by a wayward model rocket.

Fire Investigation Specialist Bill Hagar said the July 20 fire resulted from negligence by a summer camp that was meeting on the grounds of the Newbury Park Adventist Academy.

The fire, which scorched 35 acres of academy land, occurred during a model-rocket class of Camp Conejo.

The camp is run by the Seventh-day Adventist Church of Thousand Oaks.

Hagar said the fire started when a 26-inch model rocket turned on its side after it was launched and smashed into a hillside with its engine still burning.

The resulting fire kept crews busy for up to 5 1/2 hours.

Hagar said the camp did not follow several requirements for launching model rockets.

It did not get a permit or a site inspection from the Fire Department and did not have a bond from an insurance company.

Hagar said the Fire Department charged $207 an hour for each fire engine and $580 an hour for each helicopter.

He said the brush fire required 16 engines, two water tenders, two helicopters, two bulldozers and five hand crews that dug firebreaks around the site of the fire.

The bill was sent Aug. 21, Hagar said. It is the largest since Dec. 19, 1991, when the department billed Southern California Edison $68,212 for the cost of extinguishing a fire caused when two high-power transmission lines brushed together and made sparks.

Officials of the church could not be reached for comment.