Fire Blackens 400 Acres Near Piru

PIRU — A brush fire fueled by dry grass burned more than 400 acres near Piru on Monday, injuring five firefighters and touching off a separate blaze around an underground oil pipeline.

The fire started near the Ventura-Los Angeles county line around 2 p.m. when crews clearing grass along California 126 with a weed cutter hit a rock and ignited the grass, officials said.

The fire, which briefly closed the highway, spread quickly through the dry brush and grass.

“There is a lot of light grasses, and the temperatures have been real hot,” said Fred Ponce, a Ventura County Fire Department spokesman. “The conditions were just right to fuel the fire.”

The injured firefighters, all from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, suffered heat exhaustion. One was flown to Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital in Valencia.

No information on their conditions was available.

No homes were damaged, but the flames touched off a second fire in the opening to an underground oil pipeline and storage vault, sending flames shooting 10 feet above a scorched field. Hazardous-materials crews were called out to control that blaze, and officials said they would probably let the fire burn itself out.

“They have a perfect situation, because what’s leaking is burning off,” said Dean Dysart, head of the hazardous-materials division of the Ventura County Fire Department.

More than 450 firefighters from the Ventura County and Los Angeles County fire departments, as well as the California Department of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service, battled the brush fire.

Six water-dropping helicopters and three air tankers with fire retardant also were used, officials said.

Officials said the fire was 60% contained late Monday. Approximately 100 crew members were expected to stay on the scene overnight, officials said. They expect it to be 100% contained by 4 p.m. today.

The California Highway Patrol closed California 126 in both directions for two hours during the afternoon, as heavy smoke blanketed the highway, officials said.

It was Ventura County’s second major brush fire since the start of the season in mid-May.

On June 11, a brush fire scorched 800 acres on the site of the planned Ahmanson Ranch development southeast of Simi Valley along the Los Angeles County line.

Ponce said Monday’s fire was another sign that firefighters are facing a long, hot fire season.

High temperatures and lower-than-normal rainfall left dried grass throughout the county, providing the perfect fuel for brush fires.

“I foresee the situation getting worse as the months come on,” Ponce said.

Officials did not release the name of the agency responsible for the work crews who started the blaze, but a county Fire Department spokesman said the county typically pursues reimbursement if there was negligence.

The fire Monday was also the third in recent weeks ignited by people using equipment to clear brush for the fire season.

A six-acre fire in Fillmore and a 30-acre fire Sunday near Moorpark were each started when a tractor blade struck a rock.

People clearing grass should wait for more suitable weather before firing up equipment in a dried-out field, said department spokesman Joe Luna.

“At least wait for a cloudy, overcast day,” he said, “or come up with another more manual method to remove the grass.”