Brush Fire Near Lake Piru About 70% Contained

With a heavy assault by ground and air, firefighters beat back a 225-acre brush fire Wednesday that had briefly raged out of control in Los Padres National Forest southwest of Lake Piru.

The fire began about 7:30 Tuesday evening, when two hikers panicked and fired a flare into the brush to summon help after a fellow hiker suffered an epileptic seizure, said Rita Jo Nolan, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service.

Overnight, ground crews from the forest service, the fire departments of Ventura and Los Angeles counties and the California Conservation Corps hacked firebreaks through the brush and lighted backfires to carve an unburnable line around the active flames.

When day broke, helicopters labored into the air and dumped ton after ton of Lake Piru’s own water onto the rugged, burning slopes. Three smaller helicopters from Los Angeles and Ventura county fire departments moved quickly back and forth between a pump station and the fire lines.

And a massive Sikorsky SkyCrane owned by the forest service roared into action, sucking 3,000 gallons of water from the lake surface through a thick snorkel hose, then dumping it onto the flames. Meanwhile, about 450 firefighters manned engines, hoses and hand tools to fight the blaze up close.

The fire never came close to homes, but three firefighters complained of minor injuries--one suffered a bee sting, another injured a knee and a third hurt his back in a fall, Nolan said.

On Wednesday morning, firefighters had barely 40% of the fire area contained as it burned northwest toward the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, she said. By 10 p.m. the fire was about 70% contained.

The three unidentified hikers admitted they started the blaze and probably will not face criminal charges, she said.

But the U.S. Forest Service is still investigating and has not determined whether they might be billed for the cost of fighting the fire, Nolan said.