Casey Christie / The Bakersfield Californian Kern County firefighters Pete Moore, left, and Nick Paris check on hot spots Wednesday while battling the Zaca fire, which continues to burn.

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Zaca Fire Crosses Into Ventura County
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Fire officials said Wednesday they were confident the Zaca fire no longer posed a direct threat to the Ojai area after the huge blaze had reached within 17 miles of the town Monday.

The Los Padres National Forest wildfire burned just 350 acres Tuesday night and Wednesday morning — well below the thousands of acres scorched in previous days — as the flames hit firebreaks or ground denuded by backfires. But during the day, the fire again became more aggressive, burning another 2,261 acres in 12 hours.

Containment was at 81 percent Wednesday evening.

Firefighters kept the blaze from heading east and south through round-the-clock hard work, using bulldozers and hand crews to remove brush and other flammable materials from the fire's path, said Capt. Barry Parker, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department.

Officials on Wednesday disbanded a command center set up at the Ventura County Fairgrounds this week to coordinate efforts in case the fire moved closer to Ojai.

Despite the progress, however, Ventura County residents should expect to see a lot of smoke over the coming weeks, Parker said. The fire's northern flank is still a problem and is expected to generate huge plumes of smoke at least through the beginning of September, he said.

Officials hope to have the fire fully contained by Sept. 7 but caution that could change if the heat and winds increase.

As of Wednesday evening, the fire had burned 225,568 acres, making it the second largest in modern California history. The state's biggest wildfire was the 2003 Cedar fire near San Diego, which burned more than 273,000 acres, destroyed 4,847 structures and killed 15 people.

The Zaca fire, which started July 4 near Buellton in Santa Barbara County, has destroyed one outbuilding. No deaths have been reported, although 39 people have sustained minor injuries.

Meanwhile, the Assembly is considering a bill that would provide disaster relief to Santa Barbara and Ventura counties. If passed, AB62 would, among other things, provide state reimbursement for property tax revenue losses caused by property damage from the fire.

— The Associated Press contributed to this report.