Santa Anas Could Again Stoke Day Fire

Ventura County residents and weary firefighters were bracing Friday for another long weekend of raining ash, heavy smoke and high anxiety as forecasters predicted a return of Santa Ana winds.

Several days of calm weather were expected to end early today, and east winds forecast at 35 to 45 mph could send the Day fire’s western edge closer to Ojai, Santa Paula and Fillmore.

The National Weather Service warned that wind gusts up to 60 mph could occur in mountain passes and that a moderate Santa Ana condition would persist on and off through the weekend.

Weather conditions could hamper firefighters’ ability to stop the advancing flames because it’s not safe to fly helicopters and air tankers in strong winds, fire officials warned.

As of late Friday, the fire was nine miles northeast of Ojai and Santa Paula and seven miles north of Fillmore.

Defensive measures may become necessary to save homes, officials told 300 Ojai Valley residents who packed a meeting hall Thursday night to hear about the fire’s status. Firetrucks will be positioned in strategic areas to move quickly to threatened homes, authorities said.

“Right now, we’re at the mercy of the winds,” said the U.S. Forest Service’s Jeanne Pincha-Tulley, incident commander of the multi-agency force fighting the blaze.

The fire started Labor Day and had burned more than 112,000 acres by late Friday, mostly in the uninhabited Sespe Wilderness. It was 35% contained.

Anticipating the return of east winds, crews spent the week cutting a 12-mile-long firebreak north of Ojai. The 24-foot-wide swath was also doused with fire retardant, Pincha-Tulley said.

On Thursday, additional strike teams were ordered to a second command center at the Ventura County Fairgrounds. Two command posts are necessary to coordinate the more than 2,600 firefighters battling the blaze, Pincha-Tulley said.

Firefighters worked to complete fire lines in the Frazier Park-Lockwood Valley area and to set backfires to check the blaze’s spread.

There have been some successes, Ventura County Fire Chief Bob Roper said, including the saving of Native American pictographs and historic mining structures in the Mutau Flat area.

So far, firefighters have been successful in keeping the flames away from a nesting site for the endangered California condor, Roper said.

The most recent test in the area of firefighters’ ability to keep a major blaze away from houses was in 1985, when crews stopped the 119,000-acre Wheeler fire just north of Ojai.

That blaze lasted two weeks and destroyed 18 structures.

For many Ojai residents, the memory of fire ringing their mountain valley remains fresh.

“Trees explode. It can get scary,” said Jim Grieg, a 30-year Ojai resident who attended Thursday’s meeting.

Residents have been on edge since last weekend, when a milder Santa Ana caused the Day fire to roar to life, burning through six miles of thick chaparral and pine trees in less than nine hours. Smoke and ash settled over the city and caused breathing problems for several days.

Air quality officials continue to warn residents, especially seniors, small children and people with respiratory conditions, to remain indoors or sharply restrict outdoor activities.

Officials also advise keeping pets inside.

Some people are preparing for the worst. Raymond Singer, a screenwriter and film editor, said he has placed computers, hard drives and other equipment in a storage locker.

His home is close to the foothills, Singer said.

“I’m just afraid because there’s so much more fuel up there,” he said.

Roper, who lives in Ojai, sought to reassure his neighbors that their homes would survive, even in a worst-case event.

“All these agencies saved this community in 1985,” he said. “They will again.... We’ll help each other out, and we’ll get through this.”

But the fire chief also told the crowd that it shouldn’t expect the fire to be extinguished soon. In his 28 years on the job, he said, no other fire has burned as long as the Day fire.

“Over time, everyone is going to be a little tense,” he said.

Residents were asked to move animals out early as a precaution, to clear any leaves and brush around their homes and to make sure their addresses are clearly visible for firefighters.

A sheriff’s official said those in the fire’s path would receive warnings: one when the fire was at least six hours away and another when it was less than three hours away.

As a precaution, residents of Lockwood Valley, Camp Scheideck and the Upper Ojai area were advised to evacuate.

The Red Cross has opened shelters at Nordhoff High School in Ojai and at the Frazier Park Community Center.

Community meetings to update fire information will be held at 11 a.m. today at Frazier Park High School and at 1 p.m. at the Pine Mountain Club in Lockwood Valley.

Updated information is also available from the Los Padres National Forest information center, (805) 961-5770; the Ventura County Fire Protection District, (805) 388-4276; and on the Web at www.inciweb.org.

Pets may be taken to Red Cross shelters. For help with large animals, residents may call the Ventura County Department of Animal Regulation at (805) 388-4341 or (888) 223-7387.

catherine.saillant@latimes.com