Favorable weather conditions helped thousands of firefighters get the upper hand Saturday on the devastating Mountain fire that has scorched some 20,000 acres, destroyed more than 130 homes and damaged nearly 90 others — while upending the lives of Ventura County residents.
The blaze was 21% contained by Saturday evening 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…