A Shift in Winds Drives Flames Away From Homes

A relentless brush fire has consumed more than 9,700 rugged acres of canyons and foothills in the Santa Clara Valley but shifting winds drove the flames away from the homes they had threatened on Tuesday.

Schools in both Fillmore and Piru reopened Tuesday, although most physical education classes and recesses were held indoors. While residents were relieved by a sense of regained normalcy, Fillmore declared a state of local emergency--a necessary step before applying for state or federal emergency relief funds.

By evening, the season’s largest brush fire had swept into the unpopulated hills below Oat Mountain four miles from the city’s northern edge, incinerating slopes thick with brush. Gusts reaching 30 mph helped spread the blaze, which was described as 55% contained as of 8 p.m.

Officials said the 1,095 firefighters from departments as far flung as Sacramento and San Bernardino might have the fire controlled by 6 p.m. Saturday. It started around noon last Sunday in a field near Piru, about seven miles from Fillmore.

“There’s a lot of fire, there’s a lot of important area to maintain,” said Ventura County Fire Capt. Scott Hall. “So even though we have a lot of personnel, resources are thin.”

Despite the fire’s swift expansion, no injuries had been reported and no homes had been destroyed.

On Tuesday morning, the fire had rippled down the canyons toward Goodenough Road, where about 20 homes sit amid acres of avocado and citrus trees.

Patrick Tom Roud watched it creep to within 100 feet of his home before scrambling to load nine of his 30 pigs on a truck and take off.

As for the remaining porkers: “We just didn’t have time,” Roud said.

Later in the afternoon, neighbors Dick and Martha Richardson helped firefighters stave off the flames. Dick Richardson bulldozed a clearing around their property while firefighters kept their home watered down.

Martha Richardson, a teacher at Fillmore Christian Academy, said she left work early after hearing that the flames were closing in on her street.

“I already put the wedding pictures in the car [Monday], just in case,” she said.

In the end, none of the homes along Goodenough Road was touched.

But the day’s biggest battle was waged in canyons between Pole Creek and Oat Mountain. Steep hills and rugged terrain kept hand crews from entering most of the area.

“If they put crews down there, it would kill somebody,” Ventura County Fire Engineer Richard Bollinger said. “It’s all deep canyon.”

Instead, firefighters relied on planes and helicopters to navigate through clouds of thick white smoke, dumping water and fire retardant on the flames.

Meanwhile, bulldozer crews scattered throughout the hilltops mowed down and scooped away miles of brush surrounding the blaze, hoping to leave the fire with no fuel.

Carving out a clearing above Sespe Creek and Goodenough Road, a bulldozer crew worked frantically as the fire devoured trees and bushes several hundred feet away.

“The brush acts like kindling,” said crew member Dave Williams. “It gets trees going and the fire really going, and before long, we’re chasing it to the ocean.”

As firefighters struggled, investigators were trying to determine whether a rancher they blame for accidentally starting the fire had been negligent.

Officials would not release the man’s name, but identified him as a 41-year-old Fillmore resident who leases several acres near Piru for a cattle operation. He had misplaced the key to a metal gate on the property and was using a welding torch to open it, said Ventura County Fire Investigator Keith Mashburn.

“We haven’t found anything to indicate any illegal activity at all,” Mashburn said. A county Fire Department spokeswoman said the area had been cleared of brush and the man needed no special permit to use a torch at the location.

If he is found negligent, Mashburn said the county will sue him to help recoup the cost of fighting the fire, which as of Tuesday was estimated at $1.04 million and could top $4 million by the time the flames are out. The investigation could take several weeks, Mashburn said.

On Tuesday evening, about 40 people gathered for a meeting at the Veterans Memorial Building in downtown Fillmore. Firefighters and city officials fielded questions from concerned residents, such as: When will the fire be under control? (In four days.) Was the thick black smoke from the ruptured pipeline on Monday dangerous? (It’s being studied.)

Mainly, however, residents were there to thank the crews that helped save their city. “I just almost burst into tears thinking about them,” longtime resident Dorothy Lynch said after the meeting. “It’s the only thing that kept me sane when I saw the flames burning.”

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Times Community News reporter Holly J. Wolcott contributed to this story.