The Canyon Fire has burned two homes and is 62% contained and holding at 5,370 acres as of Sunday morning, according to officials with the Ventura County Fire Department.
In a phone interview, Andrew Dowd, public information officer for the Ventura County Fire Department, confirmed that two single residence structures in Los Angeles County and an additional three minor structures burned down, raising the total number of structures destroyed to seven.
When asked if he knew exactly where the homes were in L.A. County, Dowd said the specific locations were not available.
Dowd added that those homes were destroyed on the initial day of the fire.
“It’s the process of validating, verifying, authorizing a release, comparing it with other satellite data, walking the property, determining the square footage, making the comparison submitting it through. So, there’s a whole process that has to happen,” Dowd said. “It’s not just like we drive by and look and go, ‘OK, that house is destroyed’ because you can imagine the owners of those homes.”
There are about 1,158 personnel on the scene, according to Dowd.
Firefighters have continued to make good progress on the fire east of Piru. Crews worked through the night to monitor and extinguish isolated heat sources, and, with minimal fire activity, it allowed crews to continue improving control lines, according to a release from the L.A. County Fire Department and Ventura County Fire Department.
Overnight, infrared flights along the northeast portion of the fire identified areas of the remaining heat, to help guide Sunday’s suppression priorities, the release said.
The northeast section continues to have the highest concentration of remaining heat. Infrared mapping taking place Sunday will further help crews locate and extinguish hot spot areas, prevent flare-ups and protect the fire perimeter, according to the release.
Bulldozer lines on the eastern edge of the fire will be strengthened to minimize the chance of spread. Across the incident, firefighters remain prepared to respond quickly to any flare-ups while suppression repair and backhaul will continue to address impacts from firefighting operations, the release said.
Hot, dry conditions persist Sunday with forecast high temperatures ranging from 96 to 104 degrees, relative humidity dropping to 15-20%, and wind gusts up to 20 mph, according to the release.
