Inmate Killed Battling Fire in Mountains

An inmate working on a fire-fighting crew died early Sunday morning battling Ventura County’s largest blaze of the season, which blackened more than 2,500 acres in two days near Lake Piru.

The blaze, one of several in Southern California on Sunday, was ignited by a ricocheting bullet from a nearby shooting range, Ventura County authorities said. The fire was expected to be contained by Sunday night. Martin Michael Stiles, 40, a California Department of Corrections inmate assigned to the Los Angeles County Fire Department Camp in Azusa, was a native of the San Diego area, said John Foy, Ventura County fire spokesman.

Stiles was working with a 14-member crew clearing brush at 2 a.m. in steep terrain when he lost his footing and fell 150 feet to the base of the canyon. He was dead by the time his body was found.

Corrections inmates on fire crews typically work in constructing fire lines by hand, cutting away brush to stop a fire’s fuel source.

The incident is being investigated by a team from the Los Angeles and Ventura County fire and sheriff’s departments, the state Department of Corrections and the Department of Forestry.

In Los Angeles County, meanwhile, firefighters from four agencies converged on Griffith Park to contain a Sunday blaze that quickly burned about 48 acres of brush near the site of the old Los Angeles Zoo.

The fire never threatened homes and no injuries were reported, officials said. Its cause was not immediately determined.

About 200 firefighters from the city and county of Los Angeles, Glendale and Burbank battled the blaze, which broke out at 2:20 p.m. in a remote area near Griffith Park and Crystal Springs drives, Los Angeles Fire Capt. Greg Terrill said.

Park rangers notified fire officials after spotting burning brush about 15 yards from the old zoo in the park’s eastern area, where people sometimes picnic, Senior Park Ranger Tom Cotter said.

Fanned by winds, the fire moved into an open area near Vista del Valle, he said. The area was evacuated and firefighters contained the blaze about 4 p.m.