2 FIRES HURT 3, DAMAGE 1 HOME; MORE THAN 100 ACRES SCORCHED.

Byline: Jenifer Hanrahan and Gloria Gonzales Daily News Staff Writers

A couple of brush fires broke out in Los Angeles and Ventura counties Saturday, charring more than 100 acres, damaging at least one home and leaving three people with minor injuries.

The first fire, reported about 2:10 p.m. near the 1700 block of Winmar Drive in Mount Washington, charred 50 to 60 acres and damaged one home, said Los Angeles Fire Department spokesman Jim Wells.

More than 150 firefighters and five water-dropping helicopters responded to the blaze, which was contained at 5:15 p.m., Wells said.

Crews will be assigned to the Mount Washington location overnight to ensure that no hot spots flare up, Wells said. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Less than an hour later, a fire in a recreational vehicle parked on Moorpark Road just south of the McCrea Ranch, the former home of actor Joel McCrea, ignited a brush fire that burned 118 acres.

A man and woman in the RV and a Sunset Hills-area homeowner were treated for smoke inhalation. The woman in the RV also suffered first-degree burns to her face.

Southeasterly winds blew the flames away from the wooden ranch house on the McCrea property but toward homes in the Sunset Hills area, said Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Capt. Wayne Ferber.

Two hundred fifteen firefighters were called to battle the flames, which threatened between 150 and 200 homes in the Sunset Hills area between Moorpark and Thousand Oaks. By 9:30 p.m., the fire was 90 percent contained.

The wind caused flying embers to ignite small blazes that leapfrogged from the area of the McCrea Ranch to Olsen Road, Ferber said. Fire and police personnel closed portions of Olsen Road to through traffic early Saturday evening.

CAPTION(S):

Photo

Photo: Mount Washington residents flee the fire with their pets Saturday.

Brian Litt/Special to the Daily News