LOCAL FIREFIGHTERS BATTLE BRUSH FIRES THROUGHOUT WEST.

Byline: Krystn Shrieve Staff Writer

VENTURA - Ventura County firefighters, members of the Air National Guard and California Youth Authority inmates were on the fire lines Thursday, battling blazes throughout California and the West.

The county Fire Department sent an engine strike team - consisting of five brush engines and a crew of 17 - to help with a wildfire in Kern County that had burned 700 acres since it broke out Wednesday.

And the department deployed three people to the Plaskett fire, about 25 miles north of Cambria, where a 5,830-acre blaze broke out nearly two weeks ago. The fire is now contained, but mop-up efforts are continuing, officials said.

Two other local firefighters have joined a national team at Fishlake National Forest in Utah, where six separate fires have consumed more than 57,000 acres. They are expected to return on Sunday.

``At this point, we could still send out other resources,'' said county Fire Department spokeswoman Sandi Wells. ``It's evaluated every day, depending on the weather. But at any given time, that could change because you never know what might happen here.''

As of Thursday afternoon, crews were battling more than two dozen fires in the West. The largest is the Manter Fire, which has scorched more than 72,000 acres in the Sequoia National Forest.

``Our guys are right in there and clearly involved in every aspect of the efforts,'' Wells said.

In addition, eight local firefighters are helping to battle a 5,700-acre blaze five miles east of Temecula on the Pechenga Indian Reservation. That fire isn't expected to be contained until Tuesday, and local crews will probably remain there until Aug. 14, she said..

``That fire is moving fast because of the steep terrain and brush that's well over 100 years old,'' Wells said. ``Another problem is that aside from the winds in the canyons there, the fire is also creating its own wind.''

Two teams from the California Air National Guard at Point Mugu are making water drops over the Sequoia National Forest. The 146th and 302nd Airlift Wings are two of only four Air Force units equipped and trained to perform aerial fire suppression. Their tankers hold 3,000 gallons of water and retardant, which can hit an area 1,500 feet long and 60 feet wide.

Four fire crews - made up of more than 60 prisoners at the California Youth Authority in Camarillo - were dispatched in mid-July to help with the Plaskett Fire north of Cambria. On Wednesday, they were rerouted to the Kern County fire.

``We have six crews here at the Ventura camp,'' said Ray McLaughlin, the fire camp superintendent. ``We have four male crews, one female crew and one female crew-in-training. The men were sent only because the women weren't on call that day. But the women are just as tough.

``Right now the women are on initial response for Ventura County and were the first on the scene at a small Moorpark fire yesterday,'' McLaughlin said. ``At some point, they may be sent out to relieve our other crews.''