Firefighters Ventura County

The group includes a few mechanics. A butcher. A tractor salesman. A minister and a city councilman. By profession it's an eclectic bunch. But they share one hobby--firefighting. Established in 1914, the 20-member Fillmore Volunteer Fire Department is one of the few volunteer stations in Southern California to flourish as other cities have turned to professional firefighting teams. Among Ventura County cities, Santa Paula also uses volunteers to augment a small full-time force.

The group includes a few mechanics. A butcher. A tractor salesman. A minister and a city councilman. By profession it's an eclectic bunch. But they share one hobby--firefighting. Established in 1914, the 20-member Fillmore Volunteer Fire Department is one of the few volunteer stations in Southern California to flourish as other cities have turned to professional firefighting teams. Among Ventura County cities, Santa Paula also uses volunteers to augment a small full-time force.

The season's largest brush fire charred 15 acres in a remote area of Upper Ojai on Wednesday afternoon, before being put out by county and federal firefighters. The blaze started shortly before 4 p.m. off Koenigstein Road near California 150. The area is the same location where the 4,300-acre Ranch fire was sparked by fireworks in December 1999.

A retired police officer rescued a wheelchair-bound man, his wife and a caregiver Wednesday as smoke from a garage fire filled their Moorpark home and flames darted through a kitchen door. Mike Chilton, a retired Santa Monica police officer living near Elizabeth Wilhelm and her husband Carl, 76, was taking out his trash when he saw smoke. Chilton called 911 and got the Wilhelms and caregiver Jilma Guinea out. He then hosed the blaze until firefighters arrived.

Firefighters throughout Ventura County will spend Saturday afternoon showing off their stations as part of National Fire Prevention Week. The Ventura County Fire Department will open its 30 stations to the public at 1 p.m. Firefighters will demonstrate the station equipment and answer questions about fire safety. The stations will stay open until 5 p.m., although some may close earlier in case of a fire, said Sandi Wells, a public information officer with the department.

Authorities have made no arrests in connection with a 275-acre brush fire sparked by firecrackers last week but acknowledge that the focus of their investigation remains on two boys. Nearly 350 firefighters were called out Friday afternoon to battle the blaze, which began at the end of White Cedar Place and inched within 100 feet of homes. Firefighters from Ventura County, the U.S.

More than 110 firefighters were battling a blaze Wednesday night about 20 miles north of Ojai near a campground in the Los Padres National Forest, authorities said. As of 9:30 p.m., the Potrero fire had burned 20 acres of brush, two county-owned sheds and two vehicles. Containment was expected by midnight Wednesday and the fire could be out by 6 p.m. today, said Joe Pasinato, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman.

Firefighters put out a 140-acre brush fire Monday that had burned for more than 24 hours near Piru, officials said. Investigators were still searching for the cause. The fire, the largest so far this season, was contained around noon and fully extinguished shortly before 4 p.m., fire dispatcher Annie Ironside said. Because flames covered rugged hillsides in Warring Canyon, fire engines could not reach the site. Hand crews, helicopters and air tankers all helped to put out the blaze.

A farm tractor that was tilling soil sparked a blaze that scorched 40 acres of brush in the rolling hills three miles east of Wildwood Park on Friday. Approximately 150 firefighters from Ventura County and the state Department of Forestry answered the 3:29 p.m. call at Hill Canyon and Santa Rosa roads, according to Christina Rodriguez, spokeswoman for the Ventura County Fire Department. The fire was extinguished at 6 p.m. said Cindy Tinsley, another spokeswoman.

The Ventura County Fire Department will join with KABC-TV and Southern California firefighters this month for the eighth annual "Spark of Love" toy drive. "Each year, this community service campaign has involved fire departments from within Ventura, Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties," said Sandi Wells, public information officer for the Ventura County Fire Department.

Firefighters in Ventura County battled three brush fires Saturday, the largest of which burned approximately 10 acres of cactus and grass near Camarillo State Hospital. There were no injuries and no damage to structures, authorities said. The first fire was reported in Simi Valley about 12:30 p.m. in a field close to the Simi Valley Freeway near the intersection of Ardenwood and Belhaven avenues. It grew to more than three acres before it was extinguished about 1:15 p.m.