Haze Descends on Coast as Fire Continues March

Smoke and ash from Monday’s raging wildfire blanketed much of western Ventura County with an eerie, lung-scratching haze that kept many indoors.

Teachers at Ventura’s KinderCare Learning Center put the outdoor playground off limits to more than 150 children Monday, fearing what effect the ghostly gray smoke might have on youthful lungs.

“It is kind of hard to breathe out there,” said Julie Hajost, a KinderCare teacher. “We are trying to keep them inside.”

That jibed with the county Air Pollution Control District’s smoke advisory issued Monday morning, recommending that schools from Fillmore to Ventura keep children indoors as the fire swept across thousands of acres.

In Fillmore, closer to the blaze that started Sunday, some residents evacuated animals and other belongings while others held out in hopes the wind would continue to blow the smoke away from their homes.

“I’ve got water on all the houses and soaked it all down,” said Robert Tropper, a chicken farmer who lives on a Grand Avenue ranch below the ridge where the fire still burned Monday. “But if the wind changes, that smoke will just drop down here and all my animals will suffocate.”

The wildfire was the main attraction at Fillmore High School as students watched fluffy clouds of smoke shoot off the nearby ridge.

But the Santa Ana winds stoking the blaze also propelled the smoke and ash toward the coast, sparing most of the town from the fire’s fallout.

“As long as the wind moves that way, we’re in good shape,” said Joann Stroh, a school official. “When the wind dies down, you get the smoke and the ash.”

Several miles down California 126 in Santa Paula, schools held their lunch hour indoors while outdoors, a salesman hosed the soot off new cars and produce merchants dusted the powdery ash from their wares.

“People will think there is something wrong with the fruit because there is all this soot on it,” said Chris McNeill, owner of Mr. C’s Produce as he polished a crate of red apples.

High winds prevented pilots from taking off at Santa Paula Airport. And although the American Red Cross center in Santa Paula was ready to handle up to 250 residents if the fire forced evacuations in the city, by noontime no one had shown up.

Shelter manager Carol Becker said some residents were concerned that the fire could eventually dodge down the mountainside, but that the smoke and ash for now remained just an annoyance.

“It makes us feel like we’re in downtown L.A. is what it does,” Becker said.

Just 10 days after a recent earthquake drill that mobilized all Santa Paula schools, city officials said Monday that the town was well prepared to cope with any disaster. Besides the American Red Cross Center, city employees had set up a command center at City Hall to handle phone calls and the logistics in case the fire began to threaten Santa Paula.

“We are as ready as the city can be,” City Manager Arnold Dowdy said. “Our people know exactly what to do.”

Farther north near Steckel Park, Yvonne Ohaco was simultaneously watching TV and listening to the radio for news on the fire headed toward her Bridge Road home. She had already packed an overnight bag, insurance papers and family photographs.

“I already have everything in the car. I’ve been ready to go since 8 a.m. I’m going to wait as long as I can,” she told volunteers who arrived to warn her of the blaze.

On Orcutt Road, which lay in the fire’s path, water pumping trucks from fire departments from across the region parked at each driveway.

“This is the worst kind of fire weather you can have: shifting winds,” said Battalion Chief Bruce Hunt of the Orange County Fire Department. “If that does develop, we’re in the right place.”

In Fillmore, five people spent Sunday night at a makeshift Red Cross shelter but left by Monday morning.

Harry Evans, a history teacher at Fillmore High School, said he spent two hours Sunday night evacuating eight horses from his orange ranch off of Grand Avenue.

“This smoke was so thick it was hard to breathe,” said Evans, who taught on Monday despite the turmoil. “The red glow was really eerie last night.”

Although Pinder Behniwal said he also feared the fire might get worse, the cashier at Central Market in downtown Fillmore conceded that the calamity had boosted store receipts.

“We have sold a lot of water and Gatorade,” Behniwal said. “We have sold a lot more than usual.”

Farm worker Andres Robles, who was busy picking oranges in a Fillmore orchard, said the fire made it even harder to tolerate the heat, which hit the high 90s.

“When you pick the fruit, the ash gets in your nose and it’s really uncomfortable,” said Robles, 23.

Dowdy said Santa Paula would remain on fire watch but that residents were staying calm.

“People are pretty much going about their daily business,” Dowdy said. “It’s kind of a wait-and-see situation.”

Times correspondents Jeff McDonald and Andrew Blechman contributed to this story.

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Fire’s Path

The Grand Fire began about 1:30 p.m. Sunday north of Fillmore in Los Padres National Forest. It jumped Sespe Creek on Sunday evening and went out of control. About 2,000 firefighters were fighting the blaze late Monday.

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Hot Spots

The Santa Paula area has had a series of big blazes over the past decade. The following is a look at some of the most significant fires.

* October 1993: More than 1,000 firefighters battle the Steckel fire, which burns about 26,500 acres.

* December 1991: Power lines spark a brush fire that chars about 320 acres along California 126.

* October 1990: Back-to-back blazes during this month burn more than 2,500 acres around Santa Paula. The largest fire takes more than 1,000 firefighters and more than $1 million to put out.

* November 1986: More than 10,000 acres of brush go up in flames on a mountain hillside between Santa Paula and Camarillo.

* October 1985: The Wheeler Canyon fire, between Ojai and Santa Paula, burns more than 38,000 acres.

* MAIN STORY: A1

INSTANT MAPS

A helicopter, computer and infrared camera aid firefighters. B3

FIRE FALLOUT

Ash poses a danger to homes, cars, pools and pets. B3