VENTURA, Calif. (AP) – Fire crews have stopped the spread of a wind-whipped wildfire along the Southern California coast, reopened a scenic highway and lifted an evacuation order for dozens of homes.
The 1,238-acre blaze in the steep foothills northwest of Ventura was 60 percent contained by nightfall Saturday and no homes burned, fire officials said at a news conference.
“We made tremendous progress today,” said Tom Clemo, deputy fire chief from the neighboring city of Santa Monica, which aided the firefighting effort. “Despite the challenges of high winds, steep terrain, significant brush, we were able to bring a stop to all forward progress of the fire.”
About 600 firefighters from various agencies, aided by water-dropping helicopters, fought the blaze during the day. About 400 were expected remain on the line overnight.
The fire began late Friday night and winds gusting to 50 mph pushed the flames down hills and over roads and railroad tracks, showering sparks on homes in coastal communities, fire officials said.