Falling Oak Tree Injures 4 People : Ojai: Two children and two adults are hurt when tree collapses over group listening to nature talk.

Two adults and two children suffered minor injuries Saturday afternoon when a large oak tree fell on a group of about 35 children and adults listening to a nature talk at a campground north of Ojai, a Ventura County Fire Department spokesman said.

About 20 students from Juanamaria Elementary School in Ventura and about 15 adults were on the field trip to Murietta Campground near Matilija Canyon Road, Ventura County Fire Capt. Norm Plott said.

The group spent the morning exploring the area after hiking a mile into the campground, said Robert Lurie, who was on the field trip with his two sons. About noon, the group gathered in a circle under an old oak tree for a picnic and a talk by a local naturalist, Lurie said.

“It was freak thing,” he said. “It was crazy that it happened right when we were sitting there. There was no wind and no warning. We just heard this snapping sound, just like the sound when they cut down those big redwoods. We didn’t even have much of a chance to get out from under it.”

Lurie said he helped move victims from under the collapsed tree before running to a telephone about two miles away.

“It seemed like every possible rescue vehicle responded,” he said. “There was the Fire Department, search and rescue, ambulances and a helicopter.”

A Ventura County Sheriff’s Department helicopter was used to carry out the injured from the campground about a mile from the road, Plott said.

“We also had to cut a landing pad in order to reach the victims,” he said.

Plott said two of the victims were dropped off at the road by the helicopter for transport by ambulance to Ojai Valley Hospital, and the other two were flown to Ventura County Medical Center for treatment.

Van Smith, 39, of Ventura, who was taken to the hospital by helicopter, was treated for a broken ankle and released, a hospital spokeswoman said. He was accompanied by a man who was treated for minor cuts and bruises and released, the spokeswoman said.

Lorraine Crumpler, 29, of Oxnard and Raelene Soto, 9, of Ventura were both treated at Ojai Valley Hospital and released, a hospital spokeswoman said.