Man Hurt Battling Half-Acre Fire on Lot

While crews battled major brush fires elsewhere without mishap, a man was injured Wednesday trying to extinguish a half-acre blaze on a weed-strewn lot, Ventura fire officials said.

Gary Ayala, office manager at the Green Thumb garden shop on Victoria Avenue, spotted the blaze shortly after it started and ran to put it out with hoses from the nursery.

The Ventura man suffered smoke inhalation and was taken to Community Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and released.

The fire on a vacant lot behind the Kmart on Victoria Avenue was fueled by dried vegetation and strong winds.

Battalion Chief Neil Gedney said an employee of the store told him that two young boys were seen riding bikes away from the field shortly after the fire started about 1:30 p.m.

Gedney said that because the witness could not provide a good description of the boys, no arrests were made.

Three engines and nine firefighters put the blaze out in about 15 minutes.

“We wanted to jump pretty hard because of these winds,” he said.