Thomas Fire crews working to extinguish smoldering oil seeps in upper Ojai

If you live in the upper Ojai Valley, you may still smell smoke lingering from natural oil seeps. It’s creating air quality issues for some who live in the area.

On Wednesday, the Ventura County Fire Department used a special technique to eliminate smoke and hot spots.

Crews use specialized foam to cover natural oil seeps, which create smoke. Captain Stan Ziegler says the foam is used to cool and smother the area.

“We’re going to apply it directly to the smoldering seepages and it will extinguish it,” said Ziegler.

Ziegler says many in the upper Ojai Valley have concerns about the impact of smoke, which is why crews are working quickly.

“We want to minimize the exposure of our residents to any smoke that has been produced by the fire so that’s another reason why we are addressing this as quickly as possible,” said Ziegler.

The foam was shipped from across the country and took 10 days to make it to Ventura County.

Crews hope to have the job done by the end of the week.