Sandy Fire scorches over 700 acres, destroys at least 1 home in Simi Valley
Evacuations were ordered Monday due to a fast-moving, wind-driven brush fire that destroyed at least one home and threatened hundreds of others in southern Simi Valley.
The Sandy Fire, which broke out around 10:50 a.m., originated in the 600 block of Sandy Avenue and has exploded to at least 720 acres as of 3 p.m. It’s 0% contained.
At least 500 firefighters are on the scene, including from Ventura County, L.A. County and CAL FIRE. They’re actively engaged in structure defense efforts, including dropping water and coordinating with ground resources to try to bring control lines in and around the fire before it spreads further into the thicker vegetation in the Simi Hills.
It appears as of 1 p.m., crews have managed to steer the majority of this fire away from residential areas in Simi Valley and into unoccupied brush.
There have been no reports of any injuries at this time.
Sky5 has been over the scene since 11 a.m., where the fire could be seen spreading quickly, burning several structures and sending a large plume of grey smoke into the air.
At least two structures, including one home, and several vehicles were seen burning on Trickling Brook Court off Rambling Road.
The Ventura County Incident Information Line hotline has been activated. For any questions related to evacuations and sheltering please call 805-465-6650.
Evacuations
Evacuation orders have been issued for parts of Simi Valley, and warnings were extended into the Thousand Oaks area.
Evacuation Orders:
Simi Valley 32, Simi Valley 33, Simi Valley 34, Simi Valley 35
Evacuation Warning:
Simi Valley 31, TOAKS 6, TOAKS 7
You can see updated evacuation orders and warnings here.
Evacuation Points:
- Temporary evacuation point: Rancho Santa Susana Community Park, located at 5005 Los Angeles Avenue.
- Large animal shelter for horses and livestock: Ventura County Fairgrounds at 10 E Harbor Blvd.
- Small animals: Simi Valley Animal Shelter, located at 670 W Los Angeles Avenue in Simi Valley; Camarillo Animal Shelter, located at 600 Aviation Drive in Camarillo
Schools:
It appears winds are moving the fire
away from the are where many schools are located. Simi Valley Unified
released a statement saying all students are safe but are being kept
indoors due to poor air quality.
Sky5’s Rich Pricket saw a long line of parents reportedly waiting to pick up their children at Hillside Middle School at 12:45 p.m. The school is not in the direct path of the fire.
Crestview Elementary and Mountain View Elementary schools have been evacuated to Simi Valley High School, which remains open.
Wind Advisory
The weather is a big factor in this fire. A Wind Advisory that was in effect for the Santa Susana Mountains, bordering Simi Valley, and other parts of Ventura County expired at 3 p.m.
KTLA meteorologist Olga Ospina said the Santa Ana winds have died down a bit since the fire first broke out.
Winds in Simi Valley were at a sustained 11 mph as of 2 p.m., with gusts up to 19 mph. Humidity levels are low at 15% with temperatures at 80 degrees.
Winds will continue to weaken, especially as we move into evening hours.
Those winds are shifting from the southwest in areas like Simi Valley.
As we head into Tuesday, offshore winds will once again be present but are expected to be below advisory level and not as strong as the winds on Monday.
Neighbors describe fire
KTLA’s Sara Welch was on Sandy Court Monday afternoon, just below where the fire started. The burn scar could be seen there, with the plume of smoke still visible over the ridge.
She spoke to a neighbor who called in the fire, Anthony. He said he spotted the smoke puffing up and, within 30 seconds, it became engulfed and he called 9-1-1.
“I gotta give kudos to the fire department. They were here faster than I don’t know what,” he said.
Andrew Dowd with Ventura County Fire says the most important thing residents in the area can do right now is to heed evacuation orders and warnings from fire officials.
He advises residents to “have a plan in advance of a fire so that you know what you’re going to do when you need to evacuate, and when that evacuation order is given, to follow it.”
Investigators are on the scene near the fire’s reported origin at Sandy Avenue Monday afternoon to determine what could have started this fire.
Neighbors said they saw a tractor in the area doing brush clearing in the windy conditions before the fire broke out, which was also captured on Ring camera video. It’s unknown whether that had anything to do with the fire.
This is a breaking news story; stay with KTLA 5 for updates.
Other SoCal brush fires
The Sandy Fire came as other fires broke out in Southern California amid windy conditions.
- Sky Fire (Riverside County): 67600 block of Skyview Dr. in the community of Ribbonwood. The forward rate of spread was stopped at 4 acres at 2:22 p.m.
- Cajon Incident (San Bernardino County): Near Cajon Boulevard and Keenbrook Road near the 15 Freeway in Cajon. Forward progress stopped at 5 acres as of 2:30 p.m.
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