Pine Fire grows to 1,400 acres in Los Padres
A plane drops retardant on the Pine Fire at 3:05 p.m. Friday in this image from the Ventura County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Services' Sisar Peak camera.
By Marjorie Hernandez of the Ventura County Star
Firefighters were airlifted Friday to battle a remote wildfire that began in the Sespe Wilderness area of Los Padres National Forest and grew to 1,450 acres, even while blazes on the other side of the county and elsewhere kept them busy.
The Pine Fire was reported 7:30 a.m. Thursday near the Haddock Campground, a few miles from Pine Mountain Lodge about 12 miles north of Ojai.
Crews had yet to build a line around the fire on Friday, said Andrew Madsen, a spokesman for Los Padres National Forest. Containment is not expected until Thursday.
In the early hours of the fire when it was a few acres, it was fought from the air. But when winds kicked up Thursday afternoon, it exploded to 200 acres by nightfall, then 300 on Friday and 1,450 acres by Friday night.
Firefighters were deployed there by air just after 9 a.m. Friday.
"It's a classic wilderness fire that is inaccessible by road, so rather than hiking five to seven miles in rough terrain and putting crews at risk, we are flying them in," Madsen said.
Firefighters from Ventura County Fire Department were among about 366 personnel battling the blaze.
Due to the fire, officials closed the Pine Mountain Recreational Area at the gate on Highway 33, Reyes Creek Campground near Sheideck, the Reyes Creek Trail head, the Piedra Blanca Trail head and the Chorro Grande Trail. Also, Grade Valley Road is closed at the junction of Lockwood Valley Road.
Elaine Searcy, an air quality specialist with the county Air Pollution Control District, said her agency is monitoring smoke from the fire. While no smoke advisories were in place, Searcy said people should stay indoors if they are affected by the strong smell of smoke.
"If Ventura County residents smell smoke, the best thing to do is to stay indoors and turn on your air conditioning to recirculate," Searcy said. "Right now, the winds are blowing the smoke away from the nearest populated area, which is Ojai, but we will continue to monitor its direction."
In the midst of the Pine Fire, county crews had to battle two brush blazes in the Simi Valley area. A brush fire was reported at about 12:40 p.m. north of Highway 118 near Rocky Peak Road and was contained at 45 acres by about 5:30 p.m. Then a vegetation fire was reported at 6:56 p.m. in the 7400 block of studio Road in the Box Canyon area. That fire covered roughly 2 to 5 acres and was reported out at 9:24 p.m.
Meanwhile, the Ventura County Fire Department was forming a team to send to Kern County to help battle the Deer Fire, according to Capt. Mike Lindbery. He said the strike team consists of five engines and their personnel and a battalion chief. The Deer Fire started near Bealville and was threatening structures as it grew to at least 800 acres, according to media reports.
Staff writers John Scheibe and Mike Harris contributed to this report.
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