CAMARILLO : Fire Destroys Barn Containing Supplies for Boy Scouts

A fire Monday night destroyed a Camarillo barn used by the Ventura County Boy Scouts to store thousands of dollars worth of exhibit booths, signs, furnishings and collectibles.

There were no injuries in the blaze at 509 E. Daily Drive, and the cause of the fire was under investigation late Monday.

Scout officials estimated that $50,000 worth of goods, including a rare carving of an eagle valued at $5,000, were lost in the blaze. But they were thankful that the flames did not reach a Victorian house on the property that serves as the administrative headquarters for 8,000 Ventura County youths involved in scouting.

“The fire is going to have an effect on our program, but nowhere near the loss if the house had gone up with all our records,” said David C. Gaska, executive director of the Boy Scouts’ Ventura County Council.

Flames were first seen shooting from the 2,500-square-foot wooden barn next to the Hal Watkins Boy Scout Center shortly after 7 p.m., said Ventura County Battalion Chief Richard Parker. By the time engines arrived, the structure was fully ablaze and the fire was threatening a nearby office complex and the headquarters, Parker said.

Firefighters quickly brought the blaze under control, officials said.

Lost in the flames were canvas tepees, wooden signs and exhibit booths used at Boy Scout gatherings, such as the annual Scout-O-Rama and Jamboree, a national function held every four years, Gaska said.

The contents were insured, and the exhibit items probably will be replaced in time for those functions next year, he said.

But Gaska said it will be impossible to replace a 7-foot-high teakwood carving of an eagle with a 10-foot wingspan commissioned by the late Fritz Huntsinger, a Ventura County philanthropist and scouting enthusiast who donated it to the Boy Scouts.

Assistant Executive Director Bill Belcher said fire officials told him that the flames started high in the structure and may have been caused by a problem with an electric light.

The barn and Victorian house, built in 1911, were donated to the Boy Scouts by late car dealer Hal Watkins in 1974. Set on nearly an acre, the structures are the former residence of county pioneer Charles J. Daily.