
A brush fire erupted in Ventura on Monday evening, charring an estimated 55 acres near the Ventura riverbed before firefighter efforts managed to quickly halt its progress, officials confirmed. The fire, which has been named the Auto Fire, began near the 3300 block of Ventura Road and rapidly spread across the riverbed, prompting the evacuation of unhoused individuals residing in the area. By 11:45 p.m., officials from the Ventura County Fire Department reported that forward progress on the wildfire had ceased and containment efforts were underway, as noted in their statement obtained by NBC Los Angeles.
#autofire; Forward progress on the Auto fire has been stopped. The fire has been mapped at 55.7 acres with 0% containment.
— VCFD PIO (@VCFD_PIO) January 14, 2025
Firefighters from #VCFD, Ventura City Fire, Oxnard Fire and Federal Fire Ventura County remain on scene mopping up hotspots and working to increase… pic.twitter.com/S3foYVhu9A
Despite the harsh winds that were expected to peak by early Tuesday, the responders were able to rapidly get a handle on the situation. "Our firefighters are making incredible progress," Ventura County spokesperson Andrew Dowd told KTLA. The fire, which started just before 7 p.m., did not threaten any residential structures but necessitated an evacuation order for the vicinity of the Santa Clara River, as it presented an "immediate threat to life," officials warned.
The response was coordinated by Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD), Ventura City Fire, Oxnard Fire and Federal Fire Ventura County who continued to work on the scene by mopping up hotspots and aiming to increase containment. Firefighters confirmed on social media, as per a VCFD PIO X Post, that the blaze was confined to the river bottom and reiterated that no structures were at risk. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.