FIGHTING THE FLAMES; WINDS HAMPER EFFORTS TO CONTROL BLAZE NEAR PIRU.Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer Nearly 1,000 firefighters in the air and on the ground fought unpredictable winds Tuesday as the Piru Fire continued to rage out of control on two fronts - near ranch houses in Fillmore and perilously close to a condor condor, common name for certain American vultures, found in the high peaks of the Andes of South America and the Coast Range of S California. Condors are the largest of the living birds, nearly 50 in. nesting area. By mid-afternoon the blaze had consumed 6,500 acres of brush in eastern Ventura County, sending up a constant plume of heavy smoke that was visible from miles away. About 4 p.m., flames broke out on Bouquet Canyon Road and Shadow Valley Lane in Saugus, briefly threatening a home and shutting down Bouquet, Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County fire officials said. That fire was under control within a half-hour. No damage or injuries were reported. Meanwhile in Fillmore, firefighters were deployed along Goodenough Road on the western flank of the fire as the winds threw walls of flame in all direction. To the north, water-dropping aircraft doused forested land hoping to protect wildlife sanctuaries. ``The fire is being wind driven,'' said Joe Luna, a public information officer for the Ventura County Fire Department Not to be confused with Ventura Fire Department. The Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) provides fire protection and emergency response services for the unincorporated areas of Ventura County, California, and for six other cities within the county. . ``Normally, winds are pretty much concentrated in one direction, but these erratic gusts really play havoc for firefighters. One moment it's going to the east, then the next moment it shifts to the west.'' After three days, no structures had been lost or injuries reported. But the threat was palpable. Goodenough Road stretches north of Fillmore and is dotted with ranches. ``We have engines poised in that area,'' Luna said. ``We don't have any evacuations yet, but a lot of people from that area have called to make sure things are OK.'' The fire was sparked Sunday afternoon by welder using a blow torch Blow torch is a common name for a simple heating torch, which burns liquid fuel with ambient atmospheric air after vaporizing it using a coiled tube passing through the flame. In the United Kingdom the older, kerosene-fuelled, type was called a blowlamp. to repair a gate in neighboring neigh·bor n. 1. One who lives near or next to another. 2. A person, place, or thing adjacent to or located near another. 3. A fellow human. 4. Used as a form of familiar address. v. Piru. High winds quickly spread the blaze out Verb 1. blaze out - move rapidly and as if blazing; "The spaceship blazed out into space" blaze take off, start out, set forth, set off, set out, start, depart, part - leave; "The family took off for Florida" of control heading west to Fillmore and north toward the Los Padres National Forest Los Padres National Forest is a forest located in southern and central California, which includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast from Ventura to Monterey, extending inland. Elevations range from sea level to 8,831 feet. . None of the condors originally released north of Fillmore are at the sanctuary now, but historic nesting areas remain and the endangered birds are expected to return from more remote sanctuaries in the Los Padres
Not to be confused with San Diego Padres. Forest, said Mike Barth, a supervising wildlife biologist ''' The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. A wildlife biologist is someone who studies wild animals and their habitats. for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department's Condor Recovering Program. In August 1997, a fire that started in Piru's Hopper Canyon swept through the refuge. Buildings were saved but flames destroyed the condor rearing facility, where 2-month-old chicks were cared for before their return to the wild, Barth said. As fire raged again to the south, refuge officials worked at the fire command post receiving continuous updates on the path of the flames. On Tuesday, 976 firefighters from departments all over Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, battled the blaze, but gained little toward containing it. Still, full containment was expected Thursday and Luna said officials had predicted the fire would be doused by Friday. CAPTION(S): 3 Photos PHOTO (1--Color) Smoke from the Piru Fire, which has consumed 6,500 acres of brush since Sunday, is visible Tuesday near Magic Mountain in Valencia. Shaun Dyer/Special to the Daily News (2--Color) Crews at Fox Air Field load fire-retardant material into a DC-4 to fight the Piru Fire on Tuesday. (3) A DC-4 takes off from the Forest Service Tanker Base to battle the fire raging near Piru on Tuesday. Jeff Goldwater/Daily News |
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