Just two months after grappling with a catastrophic fire that scorched more than 20,000 acres, Ventura County, Calif., was again bracing for dangerous fire conditions through Wednesday morning.
The National Weather Service downgraded the severity of its forecast for the county on Tuesday afternoon to a more common red-flag warning, which indicates an increased risk of fire danger. But forecasters expected higher wind gusts on Wednesday that could lead to “explosive fire growth.”
The lighter winds moving through Ventura County’s valleys on Tuesday could help fire crews halt the spread of a nearly 56-acre fire that ignited in an overgrown riverbed on Monday evening. By Tuesday afternoon, the fire was 25 percent contained, according to Cal Fire.
As fires continued raging in Southern California on Tuesday, fire officials in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles, encouraged residents to remain vigilant and prepared — something they were doing themselves.
“This weekend my wife and I were going through our house and looking at what we would bring with us,” Andrew Dowd, the public information officer for the Ventura County Fire Department, said. “We were talking about where we would meet up if we had to leave.”
The county, nestled between Los Angeles to the southeast and Santa Barbara to the northwest, features 42 miles of Pacific Ocean coastline, making it an attractive destination for surfers and beachgoers alike. Farther inland, smaller cities like Ojai, with its spas and wellness resorts, offer a retreat from hectic city life.
Half of the county’s 1.2 million acres is occupied by farms and the Los Padres National Forest.
Originally part of Santa Barbara County, Ventura County separated in 1873, and had an initial population of about 3,500 residents. Now, with more than 840,000 residents, according to the 2020 census, it is the 11th most populous county in the state.
But residents of Ventura County pay a price for living so close to both beaches and mountains: Last year, the median price of a single-family home in Ventura County was $912,000, according to the California Association of Realtors.
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