Fire Burns Acreage Near Oxnard Oil Wells

A wildfire pushed by strong Santa Ana winds charred 10 to 15 acres of brushland in west Oxnard on Thursday night, threatening oil wells and closing in on a Southern California Edison power plant before firefighters brought it under control, authorities said.

The fire started at 8:27 p.m. near several working oil wells in a brush field just east of Harbor Boulevard and north of 5th Street, officials said. Winds gusting up to 40 m.p.h. sent sparks and embers showering across Harbor Boulevard toward Edison’s Mandalay Bay power plant.

All of Oxnard’s Fire Department and engines from the Ventura County Fire Department managed to cut a line around the blaze by 9:15 p.m., officials said. Before being knocked down, the heart of the fire burned a swath of thick brush along Harbor Boulevard about 200 yards east of the road.

“We had about a 30-foot-high wall of flames when we arrived,” Oxnard Fire Capt. Rich Elliott said. “We have some fuel in there that hasn’t burned in a while.”

Firefighters were particularly concerned about keeping the fire from reaching the enormous tanks that hold fuel oil to power the Mandalay electricity-generating plant, Oxnard Police Cmdr. Bob Elder said.

“I don’t know what’s in them, but somebody was sure worried about it,” Elder said. “I imagine if they went, it’d be a big ball of fire.”

Elliot said the fire seemed to have started near downed high-voltage lines. But fire officials were not immediately certain if the fire brought down the lines or if high winds knocked down the lines, which, in turn, sparked the fire.

Fire engines remained stationed along Harbor Boulevard late Thursday to guard against the possibility of winds rekindling the blaze.