Students from Ventura Missionary Church and School were evacuated from their school Monday afternoon due to a brush fire burning in the hills behind the school, also known as Harmon Canyon.   

“Our principal decided, just to be on the side of safety, to just go ahead and evacuate, especially now because it’s blowing more into our direction,” said Ventura Missionary teacher Martha Valentini.  

The fire is believed to have started before 1:30 pm according to several witnesses and the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

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Sergeant Jim Kenney of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department said that in addition to a brush fire, a “suspicious subject” was detained on the site.

“One of the people from Ventura Missionary Church saw a suspicious subject running down from the area where the fire started,” he said. “We are just detaining them right now.”

Elaine Bizzelle, a resident of a neighborhood located near the fire, said that she saw a figure that resembled the “suspicious subject” running down the hill away from the fire.

“I noticed something white moving around and then I saw it actually just take off running down the hill and it just […] disappeared in those trees,” she said.

“I knew it was a person because it was moving around.”

There is no known connection between the detained individual and the fire.

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Foothill seniors Claire Beck and Sarah Fahr live in neighborhoods near the epicenter of the fire and watched firefighters and respondents act quickly to put out the fire.

“I can see the flames from my house […] they were actually white flames instead of dark flames,” Beck said. “The black flames, I think, means that [the canyon] was still on fire, but the white usually means that there’s steam from being put out.”

Fahr stated that although some neighbors were concerned that they would have to evacuate, her and her parents were not worried.

“I guess its crossed our mind. My mom has brought up the idea of collecting paperwork, but it’s fairly far away, and I think everyone has it pretty much under control,” she said.

Keith Hanstad, resident of a neighborhood near the fire, stated that although the fire looks contained now, he isn’t fully convinced that it is no longer a threat.

“Actually, you see [the fire] go down, and then you still see smoke coming and then if the wind hits, it can shoot up very quickly,” he said. “We’ve seen it before.”

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Harmon Canyon has not experienced a brush fire of this scale for several years, and fires this size are a rarity in the area. However, due to the recent drought in California, brush fires are occurring more often in unexpected areas.  

“The last fire there was in the hills was a couple of months before I was born, and I think my parents were advised to pack up stuff, just in case they did have to evacuate. But that was the last [fire] since now,” Fahr said.

According to the Ventura County Fire Department’s Twitter page the fire has officially reached 35 percent containment, and firefighters are continuing to make progress.   

Check back for updates on this developing story.

Updated: 6:31 pm

Storify Credit: Kazu Koba/The Foothill Dragon Press