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 fires prompted officials to evacuate about 300 homes and a college east of Ojai, while the winds briefly grounded water-dropping helicopters.
“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.”
Late Saturday, authorities urged residents along Highway 150 east of Ojai to evacuate. The order was voluntary and prompted by flames from one of the “spot” fires cresting a nearby ridge, said Curtis Vincent, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman.
“It’s close enough that they are feeling it’s better that everyone evacuate now before they go to bed,” Vincent said. “If I had friends or family in that area, I’d have them get out in a nice, relaxed fashion just to be safe.”
The new blazes that began when the winds blew embers past the fire lines consumed thousands of acres of brush before burning back into the main blaze, which was about 75 miles north of Los Angeles. That fire scorched 120,816 acres–or nearly 189 square miles–since igniting Labor Day. It was 40 percent contained.
One of the “spot” blazes burned about 7,000 acres in the canyons above Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula along Highway 150. The campus was evacuated late Saturday.
Plumes of reddish smoke were visible as students raced between dorms gathering books and clothing.
Charlie Kaiser, a 20-year-old student, walked to his car carrying a surfboard wrapped in a blanket and several books.
“If we get Monday off, I want to go surfing,” Kaiser said. “I don’t think the campus is going to burn down or anything. It’s too wet. The fire will probably go around.”
Students said college maintenance employees had been running sprinklers nonstop for a week. Buses were transporting evacuated students to a nearby church for the night.
Another “spot” fire burned about 3,000 acres south of Lockwood Valley.
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 told 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. More than 3,000 firefighters were battling the blaze, which has cost $33 million to fight.
Elsewhere, a small brush fire broke out Saturday in the Angeles National Forest in northern Los Angeles County. It burned 100 acres and was 35 percent contained. No structures were threatened and no evacuations were ordered, authorities said.
Crews mopped up another fire in Angeles National Forest that was fully contained Friday after burning 113 acres. They also mopped up a 2,730-acre blaze in San Bernardino National Forest was fully contained Saturday.
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