Fast-Moving Fire Frightens Residents

OAK PARK —  Los Angeles and Ventura county firefighters teamed Saturday to battle a blaze that charred hillsides, threatened homes and frightened residents on both sides of the county line.

The fire, which began at the foot of a steep hill about 3:40 p.m., burned 126 acres near Lindero Canyon before firefighters had it fully contained at 7:11 p.m., authorities said.

No damage or injuries were reported, and authorities are still investigating the cause.

“It was a hard fire to fight at first,” Ventura County Fire Department spokeswoman Sandi Wells said. “Every time we thought we had a handle on it, the winds would shift and fan it out to someplace else.”

According to authorities, the blaze started near a dry arroyo behind a tract of luxury homes on Rhapsody Drive in Oak Park and quickly spilled over a steep hillside and into Agoura Hills, where within half an hour it threatened homes along Reyes Adobe Road. About half of the burned acreage was in Ventura County.

“One minute it wasn’t there and the next it had gone all the way over the hill,” said Wendy Gastwirt, who was reading in the backyard of her Oak Park home when she noticed the flames behind her residence.

“It was just crazy how fast it moved.”

Despite the firefighters’ ability to gain a quick upper hand on the blaze, Wells said it had the potential of being much worse.

Saturday’s high temperatures, shifting winds and low humidity, combined with the area’s thick brush and steep terrain, made work all the more difficult for crews battling the flames.

“The conditions today were the same as when we had the Greenmeadow and Calabasas fires,” Wells said.

“The heat made everything drier and the canyons just funneled the winds into it.”

In addition to 26 engines, five helicopters and numerous ground crews, firefighters were aided by two fixed-wing tankers that flew out of Goleta and dumped thousands of gallons of sticky pink fire retardant on the wall of flames.

Despite the fire departments’ show of force, the blaze frightened a number of residents, some of whom, like the Gastwirts, watched as the fire burned to within 20 yards of their homes.

“It was like an explosion,” Ira Gastwirt said as he looked at the glowing orange embers near the rear of his home.

“All the wind had to do was change directions and things would have been a whole lot worse.”

As soon as the smoke was seen, he said, neighbors raced into their yards to spray water on trees and brush in an effort to protect their $300,000 homes.

“It was something to see, all the neighbors and kids helping out like that,” Wendy Gastwirt said.

Bill Hayhoe was one of the few who wasn’t worried when he saw the fire line move doggedly up the hill.

“My wife and daughter were understandably worried, but I saw the wind was blowing away from us, so I figured it wasn’t going to come any closer,” said the 77-year-old retired LAPD officer from Paso Robles, who was caring for his ill daughter.

“I’ve seen enough of this kind of thing to know when to get up and go.”