OJAI, Calif.-
Hot, dry Santa Ana winds gusting to more than 50 mph Saturday stoked the flames of a three-week-old wildfire in Los Padres National Forest and ignited at least two new fires. The winds also briefly grounded water-dropping helicopters, but they were back in the air by the afternoon.
“Today we were getting kind of smacked by the winds. The helicopters were up, and they were down,” said Ventura County fire Capt. Barry Parker. “We actually fared pretty well today considering what we were up against.”
The “spot” blazes that began when the winds blew embers past the fire lines quickly consumed several hundred acres of brush in remote areas southwest of the forest fire, which was burning about 75 miles north of Los Angeles.
One scorched about 40 acres, and helicopters worked to prevent it from moving farther west toward Highway 33. Another ignited about 700 acres in the canyons above Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula along Highway 150. The campus was not in any immediate danger, authorities said.
To the west, 10 homes in the Rose Valley area were evacuated as a precaution, and hundreds of people in communities about 10 miles from the fire’s edge were urged to be ready to leave if the winds sent flames their way.
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for extreme fire conditions through Sunday in the area. Forecasters said gusts as high as 70 mph were possible during the weekend. By late Saturday, gusts were down to about 30 mph, although officials expected them to increase again Sunday morning.
A light, moist wind from the south had calmed the fire for much of the week. Crews used the time to burn chaparral and wrap isolated homes in protective material. Nearly 300 fire trucks waited in place to protect homes, said Jim Turner of the forest service.
Susan Freeman, an Ojai resident, said she had loaded belongings into her station wagon in case evacuations were ordered and worried about her three dogs and five cats at home. She said, “When you live with your house packed in your car for two weeks, you get scared.”
The fire along the border of Ventura and Los Angeles counties doubled in size when Santa Ana winds kicked up a week ago. The fire began on Labor Day and has burned more than 117,000 acres, or nearly 183 square miles. It was nearly 40 percent contained.
More than 3,000 firefighters were battling the blaze, which has cost $31.7 million to fight.
Elsewhere, crews mopped up two smaller fires in forests to the south.
A 2,730-acre fire in San Bernardino National Forest was fully contained Saturday. A fire in Angeles National Forest north of Los Angeles was fully contained Friday after burning 113 acres.
In northern California, calmer weather helped firefighters control and extinguish a series of fires that destroyed three homes, 15 barns and dozens of cattle. Officials lifted an evacuation order for more than 100 residents near Zamora, said Mike Chandler, acting fire coordinator in Yolo County.
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