By John Scheibe of the Ventura County Star
A wildfire that began early Thursday morning in the Sespe Wilderness area of the Los Padres National Forest grew to 75-100 acres after being fanned by midafternoon winds.
The Pine Fire was reported about 7:30 a.m. approximately 30 miles north of Ojai. It was near the Haddock Campground a few miles from Pine Mountain Lodge. The area is remote and accessible by ground but firefighters need to hike about five miles to reach the fire. Because of the remote nature of the area, U.S. Forest Service authorities decided to fight what was then a small fire from the air, said Andrew Madsen, a spokesman for the Los Padres National Forest.
Firefighters managed to keep the fire to under five acres until the winds moved in around 3 p.m.
The result was the blaze was growing at a rapid rate as of 5:15 p.m.
Madsen said fire crews with the U.S. Forest Service would be ordered in by ground provided the fire and the terrain did not prove too dangerous for them.
Meanwhile, crews were using a DC-10 and seven other air tankers as well as numerous helicopters, including one from the Ventura County Fire Department to fight the fire. Air crews were dumping fire retardant on the fire, Madsen said.
The fire comes at a particularly bad time as the region and the state are in a fifth year of drought.
Madsen said the fire is burning in rugged terrain in an area that has shrub and pine trees.
He also said that no structures were reported threatened.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation.
Staff writer Cheri Carlson also contributed to this report
LIVE CAMERAS
Smoke from the fire is visible from Sisar Peak, Red Mountain and Torrey Mountain on these live mountaintop cams from the Ventura County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Services:
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