Deer’s Antlers Touch Power Line, Ignite Brush Fire

A large male deer rubbing its antlers on a low-hanging power line in a canyon northwest of Ventura incinerated itself Sunday and ignited a brush fire that scorched 30 acres of rugged hillside.

About 200 firefighters battled the blaze, with support from bulldozers, helicopters and a plane. The fire, which began between 4:45 and 5 p.m. in Devil’s Canyon west of Shell Road, was fanned by stiff ocean winds.

By 7 p.m. the winds had died and the fire was reduced to a jagged orange line on the side of a steep, brush-covered hillside. Fire crews had not yet contained the blaze, but Ventura County Fire Department spokeswoman Sandi Wells said it was under control. Officials expected to have the fire contained by this morning.

“I think being able to get the air support up there as quickly as possible really helped us,” she said.

The fire began on land leased by the Vintage Petroleum company. A Vintage employee spotted smoke as he was leaving for the afternoon and reported the fire, said Paul Roden, a production foreman for Vintage.

Although oil wells dot the area, Roden said no structures were seriously threatened. The fire came within about 100 yards of an oil storage tank facility but was beaten back, he said.

Before sunset, the plane and helicopters dumped a flame retardant chemical and water on the flames. They stopped their flights when it became too dark for the pilots to see the power lines in the area, Wells said.

Other crews cut through the brush with chain saws, drawing a line around the fire.

“When you get a fire in the canyons, it’s hard to get engines in,” Wells said. “You have to have a lot of hand work and air drops.”

No injuries were reported in the blaze.