Favorable weather assists firefighters in battling the devastating Mountain fire

Favorable weather conditions helped thousands of firefighters get the upper hand Saturday on the devastating Mountain fire that has scorched some 20,640 acres, destroyed more than 130 homes and damaged nearly 90 others — while upending the lives of Ventura County residents.

The blaze was 26% contained by Sunday morning as crews were dousing mulch fires in agricultural land north of the 118 Freeway just a few miles east from the fire’s origin in the Somis neighborhood. In Santa Paula, firefighters were extinguishing smoky areas in the Santa Clara River bottom, while in the hard-hit Camarillo Heights neighborhood, they were mopping up hot spots some 300 feet in from the fire’s perimeter amid burned-out shells of homes.

“A lot of resources are going to be down there today,” Clint Swensen, operations chief with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said of the Camarillo Heights effort.

The blaze started shortly before 9 a.m. Wednesday morning in a remote area near Bradley and Balcom Canyon roads amid prime Santa Ana wildfire conditions, with wind gusts topping 60 mph and humidity in the single digits — prompting the National Weather Service to issue a “red flag alert.” Its cause remains under investigation.

Gene Potkey, a Cal Fire assistant chief, said that 12 teams are inspecting damage from the fire and so far have confirmed 104 destroyed structures and 25 damaged structures.

On Saturday, the weather was cooperating with some 3,000 fire personnel working the blaze — as the winds died down and relative humidity levels rose.

That trend was expected to continue through Monday, giving crews several days to make headway putting a ring around the fire. However, windy and dry conditions were forecast to pick up again in the evening and on Tuesday, again posing a hazard.

“We’re monitoring the situation very closely as it does coincide with the potential for critical fire weather conditions,” said Ariel Cohen, meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service in Los Angeles and Oxnard.

The favorable weather conditions and headway made by fire crews improved air quality on Saturday, with an alert that had been issued by the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District expected to expire at 4 p.m.

On Friday, a thick layer of smoke blanketed the county, forcing many residents indoors and schools to close, but by Saturday the air quality was rated “good to moderate” for all regions of the air district and was forecast to remain so through Monday.

However, with the potential for the chemical benzene to leach into water systems from burned materials, the California American Water Co., the Pleasant Valley Mutual Water Co. and the Crestview Mutual Water Co. had issued unsafe water alerts, which meant water was not safe for drinking even if it was boiled.

The fire had prompted evacuation notices for thousands of residents in the fire’s path. On Saturday, 10 areas were still subject to the notices, including neighborhoods north of Somis, around Santa Paula and near Grimes Canyon Road. Residents can check the Ventura County Sheriff Emergency Services Incident Dashboard for the latest information.

Southern California Edison, which had cut power to more than 40,000 homes in the area as a preventive measure as the Santa Ana winds howled, was reporting on Saturday that fewer than 100 homes were without power in the county.

The blaze caused its greatest devastation on Wednesday, when the powerful winds prevented aircraft from dropping fire-retardent chemicals as firefighters struggled to combat the flames on rugged steep ground amid periodic shortages of water.

The unfavorable weather conditions also sparked smaller wildfires elsewhere in Southern California, including in Santa Barbara County, Angeles National Forest and Malibu.

The Mountain fire has been the most destructive wildfire in Southern California in several years — though it has not approached the damage caused by the 2017 Thomas fire, which scorched more than 280,000 acres and destroyed more than 1,000 structures in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, or the even more devastating Woolsey fire the following year.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, who visited the fire zone Thursday, proclaimed a state of emergency that day in the county, which helped mobilize firefighting resources. On Friday, he issued an executive order to expedite debris removal and mobilize the California National Guard. He also spoke with President Biden about federal assistance, including helping with the mounting costs.

The Mountain fire is the sixth wildfire in this area of Ventura County since 1986, including most recently the 2023 South and 2019 Maria fires that burned thousands of acres in the western section of the current blaze.

Repeated blazes in a single area create a dangerous cycle that burns down brush and trees and makes room for light invasive grasses that provide excellent tinder for new fires — especially this year after two seasons of high growth were followed by record-setting late-summer heat.