Ventura County fire expected to be fully contained by midnight

A 45-acre fire in a rural area of Ventura County was 50% contained about 7 p.m. Thursday, and Fire Department officials say they expect to have it fully contained by midnight.    

The department is conducting small burn operations within the ring of the fire, so residents should expect to continue to see flames and smoke, said Ventura County Fire spokesman Bill Nash.

“We’ve been on the fire all night long, kind of in a monitoring stage,” he said. “And then tomorrow morning we’ll hit it again with hand crews and brush engines.”

High winds that stoked the flames this afternoon are expected to rise again overnight. Nash said the department remains concerned about blowing embers that could spark new fires.

“But we do not expect the footprint of the fire to spread too much tonight,” he said.

The department has not received any reports of damaged property or injuries caused by the fire.

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