SoCal Fires Enter 4th Week

Firefighters anticipated another day of hot, dry winds Sunday as they battled to keep a three-week-old wildfire from moving toward homes at the edge of the Los Padres National Forest.

"The wind is beginning to pick up," said Dan Bastion of the U.S. Forest Service. "These are the Santa Ana winds, from the northeast."

The forecast called for winds of 15 mph with gusts of up to 40 mph.

Late Saturday, authorities urged the evacuation of about 300 houses and a college east of Ojai. The order was voluntary and came after the fierce Santa Ana winds blew embers past the lines of the blaze, igniting at least two "spot" fires.

The winds also prompted authorities to briefly ground their 27 water-dropping helicopters Saturday, but Bastion said all available aircraft will be used Sunday.

Flames were visible on the ridge from Highway 150, which is about three miles from the fire line.

The new fires consumed thousands of acres of brush before burning back into the main blaze, which has scorched 127,569 acres or nearly 200 square miles — since igniting Labor Day. It was 40 percent contained.

One of the "spot" blazes burned about 7,000 acres in the canyons above Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula along Highway 150, about 75 miles north of Los Angeles. The campus was evacuated late Saturday.

Plumes of reddish smoke were visible as students raced between dorms gathering books and clothing.

Charlie Kaiser, 20, walked to his car carrying a surfboard wrapped in a blanket and several books.

"If we get Monday off, I want to go surfing," Kaiser said. "I don't think the campus is going to burn down or anything. It's too wet. The fire will probably go around."

Students said college maintenance employees had been running sprinklers nonstop for a week. Buses were transporting evacuated students to a nearby church for the night.

The second "spot" fire burned about 3,000 acres south of Lockwood Valley.

To the west, 10 homes in the Rose Valley area were evacuated as a precaution, and hundreds of people in communities about 10 miles from the fire's edge were told to be ready to leave if the winds sent flames their way.

Susan Freeman, an Ojai resident, said she had loaded belongings into her station wagon in case evacuations were ordered and worried about her three dogs and five cats at home. She said, "When you live with your house packed in your car for two weeks, you get scared."

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for extreme fire conditions through Sunday in the area. Forecasters said gusts as high as 70 mph were possible during the weekend.

Parker said fire officials were hopeful the winds would begin to taper off by Sunday afternoon.

"Once that happens, we will get in there with a passion and do as much work as we can so we can put this thing to bed," he said.

The blaze along the border of Ventura and Los Angeles counties doubled in size when Santa Ana winds kicked up a week ago. A light, moist wind from the south had calmed the huge fire for several days earlier this week.

More than 3,000 firefighters were battling the blaze, which has cost $33 million to fight.

Elsewhere, a small brush fire broke out Saturday in the Angeles National Forest in northern Los Angeles County. It burned 100 acres and was 35 percent contained. No structures were threatened and no evacuations were ordered, authorities said.