Officials Declare 1998 Fire Season Over
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VENTURA COUNTY — Recent rains have prompted Ventura County Fire Department officials to call an end to the 1998 fire season.
“There’s moisture in the ground, there’s moisture in the brush,” said Joe Luna, a Fire Department spokesman. “Any time we see the fire danger levels start to drop we officially close fire season.”
The fire season usually runs from May 15 through Nov. 15. This year’s first brush fire was June 17 and the season ended Sunday.
Firefighters this year fought 40 brush fires that were a quarter of an acre or larger and consumed a total of 13,673 acres. That compares with 26,400 acres burned in 1997, although all but 400 acres of that total came from the Hopper Canyon fire near Piru.
The bulk of 1998’s burned acreage was caused by the 12,613-acre Piru Canyon fire that began Oct. 18, Luna said.
That fire cost about $5 million to extinguish, but firefighters prevented an estimated $17 million in damage to citrus orchards and other property.
No homes were lost to brush fire this year, authorities said.
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