Fire crews were responding Monday to a fast-moving vegetation fire in Simi Valley that burned between one and two acres and spread quickly through wind-whipped brush, officials said.
The fire was threatening homes on Hailey Court and moving rapidly toward Rudolph Drive, while evacuations were ordered in multiple parts of the city. According to Watch Duty, the blaze broke out on the 600 block of Sandy Avenue and was pushed through light to medium vegetation by the wind.
Evacuation orders were issued for the Rambling Road area around Casual Court and Rocking Horse Drive, and a Level 3 evacuation warning was posted from the intersection of Royal Avenue and Tapo Canyon Road in the north. The warning extended to the end of Royal Avenue and south to the Wood Ranch Open Space and Rancho Simi RPD Open Space.
The fire came as crews across parts of California dealt over the weekend with a surge in emergency calls during Red Flag Warning conditions, strong winds and heavy travel, a reminder of how quickly fire weather can turn a small ignition into a neighborhood threat. In Simi Valley, the combination of wind and dry vegetation was enough to send flames racing before crews could slow them down.
For residents near Hailey Court, the immediate question was not how large the fire might become, but whether it could be held before it crossed into more homes. Based on the spread reported Monday, that answer depended on how fast crews could gain control as the wind kept the blaze moving toward the next streets.
