Firefighters in Southern California were battling a fast-moving brush fire that was threatening thousands of homes and the Ronald Reagan Library in Ventura County, while crews made progress against the Kincade fire that’s been burning for a week in Northern California’s wine country.
The Easy fire, which started near the 118 Freeway and Madera Road in Simi Valley shortly after 6 a.m., has chewed through 1,300 acres of dry, dense brush and is threatening 6,500 homes, Ventura County Fire Capt. Steve Kaufmann said.
The blaze is burning near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Thick smoke choked the hillside where the 125,000-square-foot complex — a repository of records and artifacts from the Reagan administration — is perched among dense brush. Flames burned all around the library but it has not been damaged, officials said.
1/18
President Ronald Reagan’s Air Force One sits on display at the Reagan Library as the Easy fire burns in the neighboring hills in Simi Valley. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
2/18
Inmate crews set backfires to heavy brush along Madera Rd. as firefighters try to keep the Easy fire from crossing the road into Thousand Oaks, Calif. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
3/18
Firefighters Iann Miller, left and Austin Houck, right, from Cal Fire Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit on patrol and mop up of the Easy Fire around the Ronald Reagan Library in Simi Valley. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
4/18
Helicopters drop water after inmate crews set backfires to heavy brush along Madera Rd. as firefighters try to keep the Easy fire from crossing the road into Thousand Oaks. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
5/18
Robyn Phipps, left, & Laura Horvitz rescue goats from a ranch along Tierra Rejada Road. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
6/18
Firefighters from a Ventura City and Oxnard City Fire work to extinguish hot spots from the Easy fire along Tierra Rejada Road. (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
7/18
SIMI VALLEY CA OCTOBER 30, 2019 — Trisha Trifunovich, right, holds up Jennifer Porter, left, as gusts of wind almost blow people over in the Easy fire zone near a Simi Valley Wednesday, October 30, 2019. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times) (Al Seib/Los Angeles Times)
8/18
Helicopters hit flames and burning brush along Madera Road as firefighters battle the Easy fire in Simi Valley. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times)
9/18
A statue of President Ronald Reagan titled “Along The Trail” stands outside the Reagan Library as the Easy Fire burns in the background in Simi Valley. (Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
10/18
Billy Macfarlane uses a garden hose to put out embers from the Easy fire threatening his family’s ranch on Tierra Rejada Road in Simi Valley. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
11/18
Dean Cato and his son, Robert, arrive to help friend Billy Macfarlane save his family’s ranch on Tierra Rejada Road in Simi Valley. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
12/18
A horse runs free on Tierra Rejada Road early Oct. 30 as the Easy fire burns toward neighborhoods in Simi Valley. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
13/18
John Malta waters down mulch at his home while firefighters battle the Easy fire in Simi Valley. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
14/18
Equestrians flee with their horses as they evacuate Castle Rock Farms while firefighters battle the Easy fire in Simi Valley. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
15/18
People run as they flee Castle Rock Farms while firefighters battle the Easy fire in Simi Valley. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
16/18
Brent Lamb prepares to move horses at a ranch along Tierra Rejada Road between Simi Valley and Moorpark as the Easy fire burns. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
17/18
Jose Gutierrez evacuates horses in Simi Valley as the Easy fire burns Oct. 30 in Simi Valley. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
18/18
Smoke from the Easy fire on Tierra Rejada Road between Simi Valley and Moorpark. (Al Seib / Los Angeles Times)
Amid wind gusts strong enough to knock a person off balance, tanker helicopters dropped their loads behind the library and two super-scooper planes unleashed such a volume of water it created its own rainbow.
The Easy fire was one of several burning in Southern California.
Despite extreme red flag warnings because of the powerful Santa Ana winds, firefighters were hoping to increase containment of the Getty fire in Brentwood.
The fire, which burned 12 homes Monday, was 27% contained and had scorched 745 acres as of Wednesday morning, officials said. About 7,000 homes remain evacuated.
Meanwhile, in Northern California, firefighters were exerting more control over the massive Kincade fire , which grew slightly to 76,825 acres.
Containment of the fire doubled overnight to 30% as of Wednesday morning, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
“The eastern part of the fire was active overnight, but firefighters continued to make forward progress as a whole,” even amid another strong wind event (forecast to be the week’s last), Cal Fire said.
1/14
A firefighter looks on as the Soda Rock winery along Highway 128 near Healdsburg is consumed by the Kincade fire early Sunday morning. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
2/14
A firefighter mops up hot spots from the Kincade fire after it jumped Chalk Hill Road near Healdsburg on Sunday morning. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
3/14
The ruins of a house smolder along Highway 128 near Healdsburg after it was consumed by the Kincade fire Sunday morning. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
4/14
Firefighters battle the blaze at the Soda Rock winery along Highway 128 near Healdsburg on Sunday morning. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
5/14
Thick smoke from the Kincade fire partially obscures the sun as it rises over trees along Chalk Hill Road near Healdsburg on Sunday morning. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
6/14
Two men open a gate to allow firefighters access to a ranch along Highway 128 near Healdsburg as the Kincade fire flares up early Sunday morning. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
7/14
The Soda Rock winery along Highway 128 near Healdsburg is consumed by the Kincade fire early Sunday morning. (Luis Sinco)
8/14
The Soda Rock winery along Highway 128 near Healdsburg is consumed by the Kincade fire early Sunday morning. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
9/14
A police cruiser patrols downtown Healdsburg, where power was cut ahead of expected high winds early Sunday morning, (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
10/14
Shopkeepers Sodhi Singh, left, and Navneet Singh prepare to close down their gas station and convenience store after the lights went out in Healdsburg on Saturday night. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
11/14
Firefighters set a back fire in the hills above Healdsburg on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
12/14
A Boeing 747 supertanker drops fire retardant on a ridgeline above Healdsburg on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
13/14
Traffic jams Dry Creek Road in Healdsburg after authorities ordered the evacuation of the city on Saturday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
14/14
A huge plume of smoke rises from the Kincade fire in the hills around Geyserville on Friday. (Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
Tuesday night, winds reached 60 mph in high terrain and up to 30 mph in the valleys where the fire is burning, said Spencer Tangen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. By Wednesday morning, the winds had already begun to slow.
.
