Tractor Sparks Brush Fire Near Fillmore

A Fillmore resident clearing brush with a tractor mower Monday accidentally set off a small brush fire in the hills just north of the city, scrambling firefighting crews for the second time in two days.

The fire burned about seven acres of grassland but did not damage any structures, officials said.

Nearly 200 firefighters worked to control the blaze, which started shortly after 1 p.m. when the tractor’s blades hit a rock. The resident was clearing brush from around a trailer north of Foothill Drive.

The brush fire follows a much larger one Sunday on the site of the Ahmanson Ranch development near the Los Angeles County line. That fire, now fully contained, charred more than 800 acres.

Ventura County firefighters, working with crews from the state Department of Forestry and the city of Fillmore, used three air tankers and three helicopters to drop water and flame retardant on the blaze Monday, officials said.

By early evening, the fire was 75% contained and was expected to be fully contained by midnight.

“The hills are green, but the dead grass is feeding the fires,” Ventura County Fire Department spokeswoman Sandi Wells said.

Sunday’s fire was the largest in the San Fernando Valley so far this season and the first in Ventura County.