Firefighters gain hold on Southern California wildfire

Fire rages in Ventura County, California, on Sunday night

June 12, 2000
Web posted at: 12:39 p.m. EDT (1639 GMT)

In this story: 'It engulfed everything with ash' Blaze contained in New Mexico Rain helps snuff Florida hot spots RELATED STORIES, SITES

LOS ANGELES -- Firefighters worked into the early morning hours Monday before containing a wildfire that threatened homes in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles.

The 800-acre fire started Sunday afternoon in hilly brush and moved to the northeast, feeding on dry grass. The fire was reported in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) north of Los Angeles.

Flames came within 500 feet of some homes, but no injuries or structural damage were reported, said Sandi Wells, a spokeswoman for the Ventura County Fire Department. No one was evacuated.

The cause of the fire was not immediately known. Fires have swept through the area several times through the years. In 1970, a blaze consumed 107,000 acres in the region, Wells said.

Residents had to contend with blinding smoke and ash.

"There was a plume of smoke coming straight at you," resident Gary Ford said. "And then finally you couldn't see the houses around you. It engulfed everything with ash."

Firefighters battled the blazes in Ventura County before containing the flames early Monday

Elsewhere, firefighters reported progress against a blaze in New Mexico.

Authorities said Sunday night they had contained a blaze described as the Chance fire west of Socorro in southwestern New Mexico. Sparked last week by lightning, the fire charred more than 32,860 acres.

One firefighter suffered a minor injury. No homes were threatened, but firefighters had to scramble to protect some historical homesteaders' cabins and an old sawmill in the area.

Fire information officer Mary Stuever said the fire blackened grassland as well as patches of ponderosa pine and juniper trees about 35 miles (56 kilometers) southwest of Datil, New Mexico. The wildfire burned mainly on U.S. Bureau of Land Management acreage, which straddles the Continental Divide around Pelona Mountain.

The Chance fire is about 190 miles (304 kilometers) southwest of the Cerro Grande fire that swept last month through the Jemez Mountains and consumed more than 200 homes in Los Alamos.

In Florida, residents on Monday enjoyed scattered rain, which is badly needed in the thirsty state. Firefighters have been battling assorted blazes in central Florida since early May.

Showers have helped to put out numerous hot spots in central Florida, including Orange County in the Orlando metropolitan area.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Ventura County Fire Department
Bureau of Land Management Public Website
National Interagency Fire Center
National Park Service
Florida Division of Forestry
USDA Forest Service

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