Calm Winds Help Ojai Fire Crews

Nearly 1,500 firefighters from throughout California took advantage of clear skies and calm winds Thursday to gain the upper hand on a stubborn, 3,500-acre blaze between Ojai and Santa Paula, although officials warned that it could still flare out of control if winds picked up again.

To the southeast, in Glendale and La Canada Flintridge, firefighters doused the smoldering remnants of a blaze that had threatened million-dollar homes in the hills of the adjacent communities Tuesday night and Wednesday. They expected to finish the job today.

Fire officials in Ventura County stepped up their assault on the Ojai blaze, which headed into the rugged back country of Los Padres National Forest and away from homes in the Ojai Valley threatened earlier. One house in Sisar Canyon was destroyed Tuesday night.

Firefighters deployed nine helicopters and six air tankers; 60 hand crews worked to cut a perimeter around the blaze. By midday Thursday, fire officials declared the so-called Ranch fire 30% contained and hope to achieve full containment by 6 p.m. today. They said they did not expect the fire to be completely controlled until Dec. 30.

A fire is considered contained when it is surrounded and not expanding, and controlled when it is largely extinguished and no longer in danger of spreading.

“Things are looking a whole lot better,” said Doug Lannon, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

However, department Fire Capt. Michael Doi warned: “It’s a pretty shaky containment right now. If the winds come up, it could flare up again.”

The fire broke out Tuesday evening and spread quickly, fueled by 70-mph winds. By Wednesday morning, it was threatening homes and schools in the east end of the Ojai Valley. But as the wind dissipated and firefighters descended from around the state, crews were able to protect the homes from damage.

As dawn broke Thursday, weary crews hiked out of the rugged hills after a chilly night spent carving a perimeter around the southern section of the blaze.

State Fire Capts. Brian Barron and Steve Carrera pulled in their 17-member crew from Monterey County about 6:30 a.m. after 12 hours digging through steep, rocky terrain ringed with smoldering ash. Barron said he hoped that they would be released in time for Christmas.

“We’re all ready,” he said. “The packages are under the tree. I just said, ‘Hold Christmas until we get home.’ ”

In Glendale and La Canada Flintridge, about 100 firefighters from the Los Angeles County and Glendale fire departments hunted for remaining embers Thursday and used shovels, water and foam to extinguish them, Assistant Glendale Fire Chief Chris Gray said.

The fire was declared contained at 4 p.m. and was expected to be controlled by 3 p.m. today.

The Glendale Fire Department pegged the size of the blaze at 524 acres, down from earlier estimates, and damage at $560,000. That included the loss of a police shooting range, the only structure destroyed by the fire, and damage to a water pump and reservoir. One firefighter suffered a minor injury, a burned foot.

In the strongest indication yet of how close the fire came to disaster, the Glendale department disclosed that 10 homes were slightly damaged when their roofs caught fire, but that all those flames were quickly extinguished before they could spread.

“I think the communities are fortunate,” Gray said. “It’s a vivid reminder of the kind of conditions we have in Southern California, and the dangers that exist.”