Almost a week after the destructive mountain fire destroyed more than a hundred buildings and burned tens of thousands of acres of brush in Ventura County, firefighters are defending their response to the blaze as some residents return to their burned homes.
Some lingering hot spots remain, keeping crews busy five days after Wednesday’s devastating fire broke out in Moorpark. The fast-moving flames, fanned by powerful gusts of wind blowing through the area, moved quickly through the area, jumped a highway and headed toward neighborhoods of Camarillo And Somis.
Bloomberg
By the end of the week, fire officials reported that the fire had burned 20,630 acres, destroyed 192 structures and damaged 82 others. As of Monday evening, it is 42% contained, with utility crews returning to the area in hopes of restoring power to residents whose homes are still standing.
All evacuation orders have been lifted, allowing people to return to their scorched neighborhoods. They wonder why their homes were engulfed by flames so quickly, forcing firefighters to defend their response to the volatile situation.
“I know we made tactical mistakes, I know they were made,” Ventura County Fire Department Chief Dustin Gardner said during a community meeting Sunday evening.
While he admits their response was to blame, he was quick to point out that no one died as a result of the fire.
“We’ve had 100, over 100 physical rescues… that’s 100 people. That’s 100 members of our community that are safe now,” he said. “We have evacuated tens of thousands of people. Those people are safe.”
Although his response was met with applause at the meeting, some homeowners began sharing their own stories, claiming they had seen crews leave while fires were still raging outside their homes.
Read more: How the Mountain Fire was sparked by an ‘environmental recipe’ that led to disaster
Chief Gardner said that in the midst of such an intense firefight, difficult but necessary choices are made, and no battle is perfect.
“A tactical error is when one of our companies stops with no visibility and with 80 mile per hour winds and embers flying in their face and they take a three second pause to identify a structure and they look and say, ‘Is save the structure?’ or should I go to the next house and save that?'” Gardner said. “That’s a split-second decision that the men and women in the field make, and they’re going to reanalyze that and say, ‘Maybe I should have. I have to go to the next house. Maybe I shouldn’t have committed myself to that house.’”
Qian Weizhong/VCG via Getty Images
He further noted that the department will learn from their response to the Mountain Fire in preparation for their next firefight, and that he understands that criticism is to be expected from the people who have just lost so much.
“They care more about you than they care about themselves,” Deputy Chief Chad Cook said during Sunday’s meeting. ‘You need to hear that. The men and women of our department care more about everyone in this room than they do about themselves.”
He also reiterated his deputy chief’s statement on Sunday.
“Your firefighters will give their lives to protect your lives,” Gardner said.
