Fire Destroys Unoccupied Mobile Home

An unoccupied mobile home on a hilltop overlooking Newbury Park burned to the ground early Wednesday, and investigators are sifting through the ashes for clues that might indicate either an electrical fire or arson, authorities said.

“The extent of the damage will hamper our ability to make a quick determination” of the cause, said Ventura County Fire Capt. Arve Wells.

John and Linda Byrd of Las Vegas, who own the double-wide mobile home at the top of La Cam Road, were in Nevada at the time of the fire. They told investigators no one was living at the property, Wells said.

“They were shocked. They’re finishing up some business in Las Vegas, and then they’ll come back and we can talk to them further,” he said.

Nearby residents and a sheriff’s deputy on patrol first noticed the fire soon after 3 a.m., said Ventura County Fire Department spokeswoman Sandi Wells.

When firefighters from the nearby Reino Road station arrived at the scene, they found the structure fully engulfed, including a wooden deck surrounding the residence.

“He [Byrd] has done a lot of clearing of brush, so there was never any danger of a grass fire,” Wells said. “But if this was September, we could have easily had one.”

Because of the severity of the fire and the lack of information about the home’s contents, officials could not give a damage estimate.

Heather Hughes, who lives at the foot of the Byrds’ half-mile-long driveway, said she watched the blaze from her frontyard but was never afraid the surrounding hillsides would catch fire.

“There was no way that was going to happen with everything being so green around here,” she said.