Farmhouse, Garage Destroyed in Fire

A fire caused $130,000 in damage to a farmhouse and garage in an orange orchard south of Fillmore, Ventura County fire officials said Thursday.

Firefighters responded to 1380 Guiberson Road in Bardsdale about 11:30 p.m Wednesday after a neighbor reported hearing a loud explosion and seeing 100-foot flames, department spokesman Joe Luna said.

“It started in the garage and spread to the main part of the house,” Luna said.

He said when emergency crews arrived, both structures were engulfed in flames.

It took 25 firefighters an hour to control the blaze because the nearest hydrant was two miles away, Luna said. A quarter-acre of brush also burned, he said.

The owner, an unidentified rancher in his 30s, was not home when the fire started, fire officials said.

More than $10,000 worth of home furnishings, clothes and a computer were lost, and a large pickup truck, a riding mower and tools were destroyed in the garage, fire officials said.

Both structures, which were built in the 1950s, were destroyed, officials said.

The cause of the fire is under investigation.