The Laguna fire in Ventura County, which grew quickly to about 50 acres Thursday morning and briefly forced the evacuation of a university campus, was coming under control by the afternoon.
Firefighters managed to stop the blaze’s forward progress on a mountain next to the campus of Cal State, Channel Islands, a public university with about 5,000 students. The campus, near Camarillo, abuts farmland.
About 200 firefighters were on the scene battling the flames by air and on the ground, contending with winds of 20 to 30 miles per hour, and gusts up to 45 m.p.h.
Because of red flag warnings about dangerous weather conditions, the fire department had fire engines and other resources already positioned in the area when the fire broke out at about 8:30 a.m.
The fire’s progress was halted shortly after noon. The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office downgraded its evacuation order to a warning, and the university campus was reopened, though classes had been already been canceled for the rest of the day.
The post Despite Quick Spread, Laguna Fire Is Largely Under Control appeared first on New York Times.
