As firefighters expand containment measures for a devastating mountain fire in Ventura County, new access to burned areas revealed more damage from a fire that broke out last week during a unique wind event.
Officials on Tuesday said 207 structures were destroyed, most of them homes, after more than a dozen teams searched nearly 900 sites in the 20,630-acre fire — an increase of more than 60 structures from Monday's count. An additional 90 structures were also damaged, according to the latest figures from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Officials also reported more than $6 million in agricultural losses from the fire, which burned avocado, orange and raspberry fields, according to Korinne Bell, Ventura County agriculture commissioner.
“We're ranked No. 1 in the state for avocados and unfortunately avocados have been the hardest hit by this fire so far,” Bell said at a news conference Monday night. He reported that 500 hectares of avocado trees were damaged or destroyed, 130 hectares of citrus trees and 10 hectares of raspberries, and 2,500 hectares used for livestock grazing. However, he said only a quarter of the agricultural land was surveyed, so the loss of $6 million is likely to be very small.
“We expect that number to increase significantly,” he said.
The Mountain Fire was listed as 48% contained as of Tuesday morning, and officials were hoping those lines would hold as it was forecast to slow down.
“The fire looks pretty good,” Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said Monday night. “The Mountain Fire – we all feel comfortable – is buttoned up. You might see flames, you might see motorcycles, and you'll hear a lot of ash and dust when you wind down this fire.”
Winds could reach 35 or 45 mph on some high peaks Tuesday and Wednesday as humidity is expected to drop, creating some challenging conditions, said Ryan Walbrun, a National Weather Service meteorologist assigned to the Mountain fire. However, he said it was nothing compared to the strong Santa Ana winds that fueled the fire's growth, pushing coal more than a kilometer ahead of the main fire.
“Tuesday and Wednesday, we have very low humidity and some wind out there,” Walbrun said. “Also, this is not a red light event and it's not anything close to where the fire started – so I would look at this air test as a good way to check the management lines.”
And as of early Tuesday, firefighters still had the fire under control.
“Until now,” said Greg Baranek, a spokesman for the combined Mountain fire response team. “Once we get past this [wind event]… we should go well.”
But even as the fire burns, officials are already looking at what will undoubtedly be a long and difficult road for the community to rebuild and recover. Many county officials pointed to past fires as a road map for that process.
“We will enter the recovery phase,” Gardner said. “The recovery phase will take a long time… so please be patient.”
Despite widespread damage to homes, buildings and farmland, only minor injuries have been reported from the fire, and no one has been reported missing or dead.
“This fire would have been an absolute disaster for our community,” Gardner said. “We lost, but again, we did not die. We have lost, but we will be able to rebuild. We can rebuild, recover and recover.”
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