Firefighters wrap up Springs fire fight

The smoke has cleared, giving people a chance to survey the damage from the 28,000-acre Springs fire that started in Camarillo last Thursday.

It burned 13 miles of brush from the 101 to the Pacific Coast Highway the first night.

Then it jumped the freeway and burned the north side of Mugu Rock and the Seabee gun range next to Naval Base Ventura County.

A change in the wind caused it to burn toward horse ranches in the Conjeo Valley.

But firefighters managed to save multi-million dollar properties and the Navy’s billion-dollar communication site on Laguna Peak.

Naval Base Ventura County Public Affairs Officer Kim Gearhart said radar equipment on the peak is used to track boats, missiles, planes and satellites.

Gearhart said bases from Vandenberg to China Lake use the equipment too. She called it a high priority during the fire.

Everything around the peak burned.

Ventura County Fire Capt. Mike Lindbery said no homes burned, despite some earlier reports, but 16 outbuildings were destroyed or damaged and commercial property was damaged too.

The bulldozers, airtankers, helicopters and hundreds of firefighters have left the area.

But some crews are still in the area checking on the fire lines to make sure the hot spots are out.

There were some moderate injuries. A few firefighters got ash in their eyes and a few fell on the steep terrain.

Children left drawings of fire engines and thank-you notes at the command post in Camarillo.