OJAI : 2 Hospitalized in 20-Acre Brush Fire
One man was in serious condition and another in critical condition at Sherman Oaks Hospital and Health Center on Wednesday after being burned in a fire that consumed 20 acres of brush near Ojai, authorities said.
A nursing supervisor at Ojai Valley Community Hospital said the men, whose names were not released, had second- and third-degree burns covering 50% to 70% of their bodies. She said they were taken by helicopter to the burn unit at Sherman Oaks.
The blaze started just after 1 p.m. near California 33, about 25 miles north of Ojai, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Kathy Good.
Good said the cause of the fire is unknown but it appeared to have started in a storage building, possibly as the result of a propane explosion.
Good said the storage structure was destroyed by the blaze. Other nearby houses and buildings, including the Churro Grande Pack Station, were not damaged, she said.
The Ojai Valley hospital spokeswoman said one of the injured men was delivering propane to the site. A third man, a firefighter who injured his foot fighting the blaze, was treated and released.
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