A brush fire burning near Simi Valley grew to nearly 1,700 acres by late Tuesday afternoon, May 19, after minimal overnight growth, as firefighters continued working toward containment.
The Sandy fire, which began Monday morning and has threatened neighborhoods and forced evacuations, was at 1,385 acres as of about 7 a.m. Tuesday, Ventura County fire officials said. By 7 p.m., it scorched 1,698 acres.
Officials reported on Tuesday evening that only 5% containment had been achieved. Containment is the area in which a fire’s perimeter is not expected to expand because of natural barriers, such as rocks or a water body, or the work of crews.
“While fire activity diminished overnight, fire behavior has increased again today and residents in impacted areas should remain aware of the potential for rapidly changing conditions,” fire officials wrote in a late-morning update.
Areas of Los Angeles County near the Sandy fire and beyond could reach “Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups” air quality levels or higher, with much of the county expected to see at least moderate air quality impacts, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
Firefighters continued working to contain the blaze, which had expanded south across a stretch of Albertson Fire Road before crews gained control of that section, Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Andy Van Sciver said.
“It has burned to the south,” Van Sciver said. “There is an increase in temperature right now. The sun has made the ground hot.”
Two additional evacuation orders were issued about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, extending previously ordered evacuations farther east to East Los Angeles Avenue, according to Ventura County’s emergency incident dashboard. Areas already under evacuation orders in Simi Valley and Bell Canyon remained in place.
As of Tuesday evening, one structure had been destroyed in the fire, according to fire officials.
Officials urged residents in affected areas to remain alert as conditions can change rapidly.
All Simi Valley Unified School District campuses were closed for students on Tuesday, officials said.
“This includes all after-school programs and activities,” it said on the VC Emergency page, which details evacuations.
Weather conditions continued to challenge firefighters. Humidity hovered around 10%, with temperatures in the low to mid-80s, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Devin Black. The winds were anticipated to hit a peak by late morning before a shift would bring more onshore flow in the afternoon.
Wind gusts were expected to peak between 25 to 30 mph in the valleys and 35 mph on ridgetops, Black said. They were expected to remain about the same after the wind shift from northeast to southwest.
On Tuesday night, the winds were expected to be between 5 and 10 mph, with gusts as high as 15 mph.
As of 6 p.m., the fire had not impacted the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, also known as Rocketdyne, on Woolsey Canyon Road, officials said.
Officials lifted some evacuation warnings for the western side of Simi Valley and for Thousand Oaks on Monday night. All other evacuation orders and warnings remained in place.
The fire broke out near Sandy Avenue just before 11 a.m. Monday, fueled by dry conditions and driven by gusty winds.
The fire threatened nearby homes Monday as pilots made repeated water drops in the Bridle Path neighborhood, an equestrian community in the southwestern foothills of the county. The blaze was moving “dangerously fast” by late morning, officials warned.
Firefighters got some respite in the evening, when the winds shifted, bringing in a cooler, more moist ocean breeze.
At least one home was seriously damaged during the firefight on Monday.
While the cause of the fire has not been determined by the Ventura County Fire Department, Simi Valley police said they received a call just after 10:15 a.m. from a man who said he was driving a tractor and hit a rock that caused a spark and started a brush fire, Sgt. Rick Morton said Tuesday.
The call originated from the 2600 block of Rudolph Drive, which runs adjacent to Sandy Avenue, Morton said.
“Some people are assuming construction or brush clearance, but we don’t know what he was doing,” Morton said, adding that the call was not being looked at as being criminal in nature.
Van Sciver said the department was aware of the tractor-related call, but said the cause of the Sandy fire was still being probed by fire investigators.
