Fire teams battling 1364-acre vegetation fire in Simi Valley Monday; Evacuations Orders in effect
SIMI VALLEY, Calif. (KEYT) – Fire crews are on the scene of a 1364-acre vegetation fire south of Simi Valley that has triggered evacuation orders and warnings in the surrounding areas as well as two school closures Monday.
An information hotline has been set up for those with questions at 805-465-6650 shared the Ventura County Emergency Information website.
People who live along Sandy Ave. near it start of the fire could see the countless water and fire retardant drops overhead.
Meredith Henderson watched with her sons.
"I'm in awe, I'm shocked I've never seen so many, this is absolutely unbelievable; the aircraft, the planes, the helicopters, it was like a war zone scene, they are just going back and forth, back and forth; doing such good job to contain this and protect the house,s we are so thankful for the fire crew and the pilots up there, we have been out here just watching in awe," said Henderson.
"I want to be a fireman when I grow up because it looks fun for some reason, I don't know why," said Nathaniel Henderson, " but, it is just crazy that all these planes and stuff are flying in."
People rushed home from work to check on loved ones.
John Rodriguez left his plumming office to check on his mother and grandmother.
"I looked over and I saw this huge plume of smoke, and it looked like a bomb went off, like a big atomic cloud, and I'm am like this is not good, so honestly, I got a little teary eyed," said Rodriguez.
Evacuation orders went out as the wind driven fire kept doubling in size.but that doesn't mean they were followed.
Some of these Phos-Chek and water drops just missed the hand crews that are trying to put a containment line around the fire.
Some of the hand crews are inmates who broke for lunch at dinner time.
A temporary evacuation point has been established at Rancho Santa Susana Community Park at 505 Los Angeles Avenue in Simi Valley.
The red areas in the image above are under current evacuation orders and the yellow areas in the image above are under evacuation warnings.
For the latest information, visit the Ventura County Sheriff's Emergency Services Incident Dashboard. All current evacuation orders and warnings across Ventura County are detailed below.
Evacuation Orders
- Simi Valley 32
- Simi Valley 33
- Simi Valley 34
- Simi Valley 35
- Meier Canyon 01 - Upgraded to Evacuation Order at 4:30 p.m.
- Burro Flats 01 - Upgraded to Evacuation Order at 4:50 p.m.
- Cheeseboro Canyon 01
- Bell Canyon 01 - Upgraded to Evacuation Order at 5:15 p.m.
- Bell Canyon 02 - Upgraded to Evacuation Order at 5:15 p.m.
- Bell Canyon 03 - Upgraded to Evacuation Order at 5:15 p.m.
- Bell Canyon 04 - Upgraded to Evacuation Order at 5:15 p.m.
- Bell Canyon 05 - Upgraded to Evacuation Order at 5:15 p.m.
- Santa Susana 01
- Santa Susana 02
Evacuation Warnings
- Simi Valley 31
- TOAKS 6
- TOAKS 7
- Box Canyon 02
- Box Canyon 03
As the fire has grown in size and changed direction, there are evacuation warnings now in effect for parts of Los Angeles County both east and south of the current evacuation warning zones in Ventura County.
The fire spread quickly, sending up large plumes of smoke and the direction of the smoke impact and path of the flames has changed throughout the day as the direction of high winds in the area have changed.
Simi Valley Unified School District
The Simi Valley Unified School District shared that students at Crestview Elementary and Mountain View Elementary have been evacuated to Simi Valley High at 5400 Cochrane Street.
Signs have been posted detailing how guardians can pickup their evacuated students shared the local school district.
Hillside Middle and Hollow Hills Elementary are still sheltering in place due to smoke from the large fire, but have not been evacuated at this point added the Simi Valley Unified School District.
Animal Shelters
Two small animal shelters have been set up as part of the fire response as well.
The small animal shelter has been opened at the Simi Valley Animal Shelter at 670 Los Angeles Avenue in Simi Valley and another has been set up at the Camarillo Animal Shelter at 600 Aviation Drive.
A large animal shelter, for horses and livestock, has been set up at the Ventura County Fairgrounds at 10 Harbor Boulevard in Ventura.
Fire Assets
According to the Ventura County Fire Department, 200 firefighters are on the scene with multiple air assets providing aerial suppression.
The cause remains under investigation.
This is an evolving fire response and more information will be added to this article as it is received.
