Target Shooter Suspected in 3-Acre Brush Fire
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Federal and Ventura County firefighters made quick work Monday of an Ojai Valley brush fire apparently sparked by a target shooter, holding the blaze to three acres.
Ten fire engines, two tanker planes, two helicopters and about 110 firefighters responded to the 1:30 p.m. fire in brush and grass a mile north of Lake Casitas. By 3 p.m., the planes had been sent home and the fire had been surrounded, U.S. Forest Service spokesman Robert Rivelle said.
“The winds and the weather cooperated,” Rivelle said, noting that temperatures were in the 80s and that winds were 2 to 5 mph. “We pick up our fires and Mother Nature takes care of the rest.”
Authorities questioned a recreational shooter suspected of setting the fire during target practice at the end of Santa Ana Road, Rivelle said.
“The cause is being reported as recreational shooting by a forest visitor,” he said.
The fire occurred at the edge of Los Padres National Forest.
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