Firefighters are optimistic about how they are doing in the battle against the 20,000 acre plus Mountain Fire.
"The fire is looking really good. Our Operations Chief, our firefighters, our line commanders have been working at this thing 24/7," said Ventura County Fire Chef Dustin Gardner.
He said the nearly 3000 firefighters have worked hard, and kept the fire from expanding its boundaries for the last few days. The focus is on mopping up hot spots.
"Filthy dirty, ash covered faces, ash covered arms, they are working to button this thing up," said Gardner.
But, firefighters are getting a test Tuesday. The storm system which moved through the area Monday night set the stage for windy conditions Tuesday.
"The winds will shift to more of a north-northeast direction. They come down the I-5 corridor, and will kind of fan out on the plains of Ventura County. At that point, the humidity values will start to drop significantly," said Ryan Walburn, who is a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
"That's the change in the weather we are watching. This is a good thing, because we get a wind test. It's good to get a test when you have thousands of firefighters in your neighborhood," said Walburn. "Tuesday and Wednesday, we have very low humidity, and some winds out there. Again, this is not a Red Flag event, and it's not anything close to when the fire started."
Even as firefighters continue to work to get containment of the fire, teams are starting to get a better handle on the damage caused by the blaze.
CalFire Battalion Chief Gene Potkey is managing the assessment teams surveying the loss of buildings.
"We've had 14 inspection teams conducting boots on the ground inspections," said Potkey. "They have conducted 894 inspections, with 620 structures showing no damage, 82 structures with damage, and 192 structures destroyed."
Those number are expected to rise, as the survey teams continue their work.
Also hard hit is Ventura County’s agricultural industry, with the fire tearing through a number of farms and ranches.
"Agriculture is extremely important to our county. We rank number 10 in the state," said Korrine Bell, who is Ventura County’s Agricultural Commissioner.
"Of the 20,000 acres that's been impacted (by the fire), over half that is in agriculture," said Bell. She said avocado and citrus trees, and nursery stock have been hard hit.
Firefighters are hoping the wind in the forecast for Tuesday will be last hurdle to overcome before they get full containment of the blaze. With top wind gusts expected to be around 35 miles an hour, meteorologists say it will be nothing like last week’s event.
Still, Gardner says in the wake of the firestorm, some may find the wind unnerving. "It's going to create anxiety for some," said the Fire Chief. As far as the Mountain Fire goes, we all felt comfortable that the Mountain Fire is buttoned up."
