With Santa Ana winds blowing in the region, firefighters had to deal with two new brush fires which popped up Monday morning, including one which closed Highway 118 in Simi Valley for more than two hours.
Both fires started just after 10 a.m.
A fire on the south side of Highway 118 near Rocky Peak Road sent a huge plume of smoke into the sky. The freeway was closed, but no homes ended up being evacuated. Firefighters aided by aircraft got the upper hand on the 100 acre plus fire in about two hours.
The second fire was in the Lynn Ranch area of Newbury Park. It was on the 1200 block of Calle Las Casas. It burned in an open space area near some homes. The five acre blaze was stopped before it could damage any of the houses.