Fillmore Residents Flee Wildfire; Blaze Burns 2,300 Acres in Los Padres Forest

A fast-moving brush fire swept toward the edges of this Santa Clara Valley farm town Monday, triggering neighborhood evacuations and leaving more than 3,800 charred acres in its wake.

No injuries were reported among the town’s residents or the 752 firefighters from Los Angeles and Ventura counties who converged on the blaze. Authorities said the fire, which was accidentally set off Sunday by a spark from a welder’s torch, had been 50% contained by late Monday afternoon.

Meanwhile, in Santa Barbara County, fire in a remote section of Los Padres National Forest had burned 2,300 acres. The blaze was 35% contained Monday and no structures were threatened, according to Kathy Good of the U.S. Forest Service.

In Fillmore, a cloud of smoke hundreds of feet high loomed over town Monday afternoon, turning the sun blood-red. Ash from the fire wafted as far as Ventura, 20 miles to the west.

No structures had burned, but residents watched nervously as the winds shifted throughout the day, at times driving the fire within yards of homes.

A hillside apartment complex, Valley View Heights, was evacuated Sunday night, reopened Monday morning, and evacuated again hours later.

Two sheriff’s patrol cars circled the buildings while a deputy with a megaphone ordered residents out. Flames crackled through the dry grass several hundred yards up the hill.

From 30 to 50 residents had been ordered from their homes by Monday evening.

The Los Padres fire started at 2:50 p.m. Friday, during work to clear brush for the fire season.