Arson Suspected in 25-Acre Parkland Fire

A slow-moving brush fire that investigators attributed to arson blackened about 25 acres of Wildwood Canyon Park on Tuesday afternoon, and came close enough to homes that residents were told to water down roofs and prepare for evacuation.

The blaze, which started about 4:30 p.m., came within a quarter of a mile of the homes, said Lori Lipsey, spokeswoman for the Ventura County Fire Department.

Flames spread slowly because much of the area around the neighborhood on the northwest side of Thousand Oaks had been cleared of dry brush, and the Fire Department held a controlled burn there less than a year ago, Lipsey said.

High humidity and a quick response also helped firefighters get control of the fire, which was 80% contained by about 8 p.m. and was expected to be fully extinguished by midnight.

More than 100 people, 11 fire engines and three water-dropping helicopters fought the canyon blaze near San Miguel Circle and Velarde Drive.

Officials declined to say what evidence of arson they had recovered, but said they were continuing to investigate.

Smoke and ash billowed around nearby homes for about 15 minutes before firefighters got a handle on the blaze, said resident Melissa Cabral, 20, who lives with her parents on Velarde Drive.

“We’ve had fires here before, but this is probably the closest they’ve come to this street,” she said.

Harold and Carroll Borland, who have lived on Velarde Drive for 14 years, thought the fire came within 500 feet of their home.

“The canyon kind of curves around back there, but we could see it moving toward us,” Carroll Borland said. “When the smoke turned orange, we knew it was serious.”

Firefighters stationed themselves behind the Borlands’ home and others along Velarde Drive just in case the fire came too close, a Fire Department spokeswoman said.

“The Fire Department was out here real quick. I hadn’t even seen the smoke before they were dropping water on the fire,” Carroll Borland said.

Fire engines were stationed along San Miguel Circle to protect homes there, as well, and firefighters knocked on doors, advising residents to water down their roofs and wait for possible evacuation, said George Gonzalez, who lives on the street.

“We were very fortunate that we just cleared out the brush from our back yard,” Gonzalez said.

Not wanting to take any chances, he also watered down his roof.

Later, with the fire nearly out and only a hint of smoke and ash in the air, Gonzalez joined several neighbors at a trail head overlooking the canyon where the fire started and watched as crews doused hot spots.

Nearby, teenagers sat on a wall watching the helicopters drop water on the columns of smoke.

Jose Abdelwahab, 15, who lives nearby, said he and his friend Ryan Smith, 14, first saw smoke from the fire while they were driving up the Conejo Grade.

“[Ryan] was like, ‘I bet your house is on fire,’ ” Jose said, laughing with his friend as the helicopters roared overhead.

The Fire Department asked that any resident or hiker who may have seen suspicious activity in the park call arson investigators at 378-7003.