A 39-acre wildfire began burning around 2:00 p.m. on Monday near an avocado orchard behind Arroyo Verde Park, several blocks north of Foothill’s campus.

According to Fire Battalion Chief Matt Brock, the fire department was notified around 4:30 p.m. More than 150 firefighters from Ventura and Santa Barbara counties and two helicopters were requested to help contain it. At about 6:55 p.m. that night, an aircraft flew near the burn site and aided the containment effort.

Earlier estimates determined that the fire was around 58 acres, but once a helicopter was able to measure the area, officials saw that it was about 19 acres smaller than expected.

At 1:20 p.m. on Tuesday, officials announced that the fire is fully contained. However, there are still a few units at the scene making sure it stays contained.

No structures were damaged, nor were there any house evacuations or injuries.

“Initially we placed some fire crews into the area of North Victoria Avenue and also along Skyline and Topa Topa drive in anticipation that the fire maybe would go in that direction,” Brock said. “Once we got other fire crews on scene where the actual fire was burning we determined it was not a threat to those areas so we moved the crews out, so no homes are threatened right now.”

The cause of the fire is still unknown, but there is an investigator at the site looking for more information. Ventura County Geographic Information System (GIS) is also at the scene, attempting to locate the origin of the fire.

According to Sergeant Tom Higgins of the Ventura Police Department, the fire started “towards the top end of Sexton Canyon… just outside the city limits up by Victoria and Foothill.”

Foothill ASB President Andre Sehati, who could see the flames from his house, said he learned about the fire when friends texted him. From his backyard, he saw that “the whole sky behind me was covered in grey smoke.”

Later, Sehati drove over to Arroyo Verde to get a better look at the fire because he was worried that neighborhoods were being threatened by it.

“There were a lot of people who were watching the fire with us, and we were all concerned.”

Most bystanders stood at the intersection of Foothill and Day Road, and many had small children eager to see the flames and helicopters.

Community member Brett Johnson noticed the fire at about 4:45 p.m. and came to watch it “just to check things out, bring my daughter out here to see the helicopters.”

According to a Ventura County Fire Department update, the “fire crews are making good progress.”

“The situation was under control and handled consistently,” Sehati said.

Editor’s note: This article was updated at 7:02 p.m., 7:34 p.m., 8:42 p.m., and 9:13 p.m. on Monday, August 27. It was updated again at 6:02 p.m. on Tuesday, August 28.

Assistant Editor in Chief Allison Clark and staff member Erin Maidman contributed to the reporting of this article.

Credit: Jackson Tovar/The Foothill Dragon Press

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