200 Firefighters Battling Brush Fire

Whipped by swirling winds in the hills north of Fillmore, Ventura County’s first major brush fire of the year blackened at least 700 acres in Los Padres National Forest on Sunday and sent a cloud of smoke and ash drifting as far away as Ventura.

By evening, more than 200 firefighters from four firefighting agencies had not been able to contain the blaze, which was spreading north and west through steep terrain.

Although the fire came within about one mile of homes on Grand Avenue, no homes were threatened, according to a Los Padres National Forest spokesman.

However, five fire engines were stationed at the end of Grand Avenue on Sunday night in case the fire came closer.

Two wooden structures on land owned by an oil company were destroyed.

Late Sunday, the fire was also slowly advancing on the Sespe Condor Sanctuary. But Los Padres fire information officer Maeton Freel said the fire was still far away from most of the rare condors.

“It’s not a major concern,” he said. “The wild population of birds is quite a bit farther north and west.”

The cause of the fire had not been determined Sunday night.

Area residents began calling the County Fire Department’s dispatch center about 1:30 p.m. to report seeing smoke, dispatcher Vicki Crabtree said.

When fire crews arrived, they found the fire eating through brush-covered land north of Goodenough Road.

Winds gusting up to 30 mph, and frequently changing direction, fanned the blaze as it climbed the hillsides of a canyon near Sespe Creek.

The firefighting agencies--including the Ventura County and Los Angeles County fire departments, the U.S. Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry--summoned three helicopters and two tanker planes to drop flame-retardant on the fire, while nine fire engines attacked from the ground.

Firefighters would probably stay at the scene throughout the night, Crabtree said.

Unfortunately, the erratic winds were expected to continue gusting into today, making the fire difficult to contain or predict.

“With the winds being erratic, you don’t know where it’s going to go,” Crabtree said.