Fire season gets early start in Conejo Valley
By Sylvie Belmond belmond@theacorn.com

TIMELY DELIVERY-The sights and sounds of helicopters were apparent last week when a pair of brush fires broke out in the Conejo Valley. Here a helicopter drops water on a fire that started around 5:20 p.m. Saturday near Agoura and Lindero Canyon roads in L.A. County. A larger blaze Thursday had charred the hills near Lake Sherwood. See more photographs on page 30.

Newbury Park residents Jim Greer and his son, Mitch, are part of a family that's been fighting fires for three generations.

Greer, who has 25 years of experience as a reserve with the Ventura County Fire Department, was watching the July 6 blaze as it devoured brush on a rocky hillside near Lake Sherwood. The flames were moving quickly downhill toward rural Highway 23, south of Potrero Road.

"The fire is pulling the air out of the canyon and making its own weather," said Greer, whose job was to make sure embers didn't cross the road and threaten homes at the top of a ridge on the other side.

By 4 p.m., the fire had consumed 50 acres, but low winds helped crews control the wildfire in the Lake Sherwood area and it was fully contained by Friday night.

Jim and Mitch Greer

One firefighter suffered from heat exhaustion while battling the flames. He was airlifted from the Carlisle Canyon area for treatment.

"The firefighters worked hard . . . climbing those steep hills with hoses to put that fire out," said Capt. Barry Parker, spokesperson for the Ventura County Fire Department.

The wildfire started in the Williamsburg Way area of Lake Sherwood.

Ventura County, L.A. City, L.A. County and California Department of Forestry fire services responded with about 400 firefighters.

Although it was quickly controlled, the blaze caused concern for local residents.

Sycamore Canyon resident Richard Cozak was waiting anxiously at a roadblock at the mouth of the canyon. His 4-yearold child and a nanny were still at home, but Cozak wasn't permitted to pass through the roadblock. Two California Highway Patrol officers reassured him that residents would be evacuated if they were in danger.

The Westlake resident said he was confident of the firefighters' ability to contain the blaze. "I saw what they did in Fox Canyon last year," Cozak said. "These guys are heroes as far as I'm concerned.

"But it's still scary," Cozak said. "It's a beautiful but dry area and there's a lot of brush," he said.

During the fire, voluntary evacuations were made in the Carlisle Canyon area.

A second brushfire began at about 5 p.m. Saturday south of the 101 Freeway in the hills east of Lindero Canyon in the city of Westlake Village. Firefighters managed to control the 50-acre blaze in about two hours.

Homes were briefly threatened but no injuries were reported. One firefighter suffered from heat exhaustion while fighting the blaze.

Neither fire spread because there was little or no wind, according to Inspector Ed Lozano with the Los Angeles County Fire Department. When Santa Anas meet a brush fire, they create hurricane-force winds, Lozano said.

Fire officials are still investigating the cause of both fires.