Easy Fire: Thousands Return Home, 1,725 Acres Burned

SIMI VALLEY, CA — Firefighters made ground overnight in battling the Easy Fire that began in Simi Valley Wednesday morning and spread to 1,300-acres in mere hours. By Thursday morning, firefighters had the blaze 10 percent contained and halted its forward progress. A lull in the Santa Ana winds aided their efforts.

As of 9 a.m. Thursday, the Easy Fire had scorched nearly 1,725 acres, after driving more than 26,000 people from their homes. Most evacuation orders have been lifted except for a portion of Simi Valley and Moorpark from Highway 118 to the north, south to Olsen Road/Madera Street, east to Madera Street and west to Highway 23.

Ventura County Fire Department investigators still haven’t determined the cause of the fire, which broke out around 6 a.m. Wednesday. Southern California Edison confirmed that the fire broke out near one of its live sub-transmission lines, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Driven by intense winds, it spread to more than 1,000 acres in just a couple hours and threatened 7,000 homes as well as the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Tierra Rejada Road between Highway 23 and Madera Road remains closed to allow crews room to continue the fight.

Two homes were destroyed in the blaze, and three firefighters suffered minor injuries while battling the fire. Authorities have no estimate for full containment. The Santa Ana winds are expected to continue to bedevil the region through early Thursday evening.

Ventura County Fire Department Assistant Chief Chad Cook, the Easy Fire's incident commander, described the intense firefighting battle Wednesday.

"The fire outflanked us very rapidly today pushed by those 40 to 50 mph winds. We did experience gusts up to 65 mph hour this morning, which made long range spotting very, very dangerous and also quickly outpaced the initial attack resources," said Cook. "Our plan of action out there is to get people out of harm’s way."

Several schools remained closed Thursday as thick smoke blanketed the region.

School District Closures

• Briggs School District
• Conejo Valley Unified School District
• Fillmore Unified School District
• Hueneme Elementary School District
• Las Virgenes Unified School District
• Mesa Union School District
• Moorpark Unified School District
• Mupu School District
• Oak Park Unified School District
• Ocean View School District
• Oxnard School District (K-8)
• Oxnard Union High School District
• Pleasant Valley School District
• Rio School District
• Santa Clara Elementary School District
• Santa Paula Unified School District
• Simi Valley Unified School District
• Somis School District

Charter School Closures

• ACE (Camarillo)
• Bridges (Thousand Oaks)
• CAPE (Camarillo)
• Ivy Tech (Moorpark)
• MATES (Thousand Oaks)
• River Oaks Academy Resource Centers (Oxnard & Westlake Village)
• University Preparation (Camarillo)
• Vista Real Charter High, Simi Center