A wildfire burning in Ventura County has grown to just over 2700 acres, but an army of firefighters has made major progress towards containing it.
The fire started on South Mountain, just northeast of Somis Saturday morning. Strong Santa Ana winds quickly expanded the blaze, which started on a remote area of the mountain. It prompted the evacuation of some homes.
It threatened some ranches northeast of Somis in a largely agricultural area. The flames also burned just outside of the Saticoy Country Club, an area that’s home to a number of luxury homes.
Mandatory evacuation orders were issues for both areas Saturday, but were lifted Sunday morning.
Firefighters protected the houses, with no losses reported.
The fire is in the same area as the 2019 Maria Fire.
Firefighters worked through the night, aided by bulldozers and night-flying helicopters. And, nature helped, with the wind easing. While it was an inferno Saturday, Sunday morning there were just little puffs of smoke, and no visible flame, with nearly dead calm wind conditions. Every few minutes, one of the water dropping helicopter working fire would fly up the side of the mountain, but they would sometime have to circle to find a hot spot worthy of a drop.
There are 600 firefighters working the fire, with 15% containment. The Santa Anas are expected to ease through the day Sunday, but more wind is possible early next week. Full containment could take a few days.
There's no word yet on the cause.
