Blaze Near Piru Is 90% Contained

Airlifted by helicopter to the fringes of Los Padres National Forest, 300 firefighters neared the end of their work Monday to solidify firebreaks that now contain about 90% of the 24,100-acre Hopper Canyon fire.

Nearer to Fillmore, other firefighters ignited brush along the blaze’s southeastern edge, setting backfires to destroy dry grass and shrubs that could otherwise carry the fire closer to the city.

And commanders continued sending strike teams home, as higher humidity and gentler winds gave them a better control of the blaze.

As of Monday, about 1,436 firefighters remained scattered across the rugged mountain ridges north of Piru, tightening their grip on the 7-day-old fire.

By Monday night, fire crews had carved a moat of unburnable ground around the fire that was 30 miles long, and fire officials predicted they had only another three miles of firebreaks to complete.

“Once they get that in, they’ll pretty much have the fire fully contained,” said Joe Luna, spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department. “I think on the western flank, the fire has pretty much burned itself off, as well as on the northern flank, into the Sespe Wilderness.”

But fire crews still kept a close watch on the fire’s southern flank, where flames had burned to within a mile of tiny Piru, he said.

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Meanwhile, fire commanders reported there were no new injuries Monday, leaving the toll at seven. The most serious were three cases of heat exhaustion.

As the fire area cooled, archeologists hiked across the ashen ridges and through unburned areas that might require firebreaks.

The scientists were not searching for particular fossils or Native American sites, said Robert Kitchens, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. “They just want to make sure we don’t put ‘dozer lines through something significant.”

The people of Piru were breathing a little easier than they had Thursday, when flames crowned the ridges of Waring Canyon within eyeshot of the hamlet just west of the Los Angeles County line.

“We’ve been smelling the smoke” since the fire started, said Stephanie Acosta, president of the Piru Neighborhood Council. “It just kind of makes you feel uncomfortable. If you’re smelling it, it’s close.”

But Acosta said Piru residents were grateful to see so many fire engines from so many departments cruising canyon roads and guarding buildings when the flames grew too close. “That made people feel more safe,” she said.

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Overnight, fire crews were expected to continue working, Kitchens said.

“They’ll patrol the line, walk it or ride it in engines if they can,” he said. “And smoke, they’ll put water on it and cool it down.”