Day: September 22, 2009

Fire near Fillmore & Moorpark, Ventura Co.

10:30 pm – latest reports put this fire at 8500 acres and growing. Strike teams being sent from all over the state, including from Monterey.

6:00 pm – Per Ventura Co. FD PIO Bill Nash at 1610 hours~”6000 acres….0% containment”

3:00 pm – the Ventura County fire is called “Guiberson.” Cal-Fire reports: “. . . now at 2300+ acres. 0% 200 homes evacuated. 300+ FF’s on scene.”

1:30 pm – 300 plus acres. Being reported live on ktla as well as the link below. Cal-Fire team 10 activated it looks like. Lots of long range spotting going on, due to winds of 30 mph, gusting to 52 mph.

Officials with the Ventura County Fire Department say over 300 acres of dry brush have already burned and the blaze is moving in a south, southwest direction. There are an estimated 200 homes or ranches in the area and evacuations have been ordered.

The area south of Fillmore, north of Broadway Road and east of Grimes Canyon are under evacuation order, according to Frank O’Hanlon of the Ventura County Sheriff’s department. O’Hanlon says ranchers in the area should leave as “quickly as possible.”

The wind is carrying embers and starting spot fires about one mile out from the fire, said Bill Nash, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department.

“The fire is moving quickly toward Moorpark,” Nash said. “It’s growing very quickly.”

12:30 pm

CBS local live feed

Wildlandfire is reporting 200 acres, but others report the visuals look much larger. it crested the ridge and is heading toward Moorpark.

Wiley Ridge RAWS shows Temp: 94.0° F Winds: 31 mph from NE Gusts: to 54 mph RH: 4% Fuel temp: 98.0° F

Nearest RAWS: here

11:45am Breaking News from KEYT Fillmore Fire
A fire that broke out this morning around 10:30 is continuing to burn near East Guiberson Road and Calumet Canyon Road over the hill toward Moorpark.

There are 8 air tankers and 4 firefighting helicopters currently battling the blaze, along with 46 firefighting engines.

Some of the resources that were working the Station Fire were reportedly diverted to help battle this blaze.

At last check it was two acres…but flames are visable…and there is a great deal of smoke seen throughout much of the area between Fillmore and Moorpark.

KEY News Bureau Chief Tracy Lehr is at the scene…and tells us that is extremely windy.

No homes are threatened at this point…however, the Fire Department is setting up structure protection on the Moorpark side of the fire.

The temperature in the very dry, windy area is currently 98 degrees.

Fire Safety

On the morning of September 18th, an unattended, still smoldering campfire was found in a meadow in Sycamore Canyon. Due to the efforts of local residents and members of the Big Sur Volunteer Fire Brigade, the incident did not cause a wildfire and became, instead, a simple reminder that we must all be extra vigilant during these last dry months before the rains dampen the extreme fire danger we face. We have a very hot, dry week ahead of us, so let us be exceedingly cautious. The months of September and October have seen many wildfires over the years. Living in the wildland as we do carries responsibilities for all of us.