Fire quickly knocked down in Lockwood Valley

  • Los Padres National Forest firefighters from the Mt. Pinos Ranger District keep the water flowing at the scene of the fire near Mill Canyon Road. [photo by Gary Meyer]

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    Los Padres National Forest firefighters from the Mt. Pinos Ranger District keep the water flowing at the scene of the fire near Mill Canyon Road. [photo by Gary Meyer]

  • Los Padres National Forest firefighters from the Mt. Pinos Ranger District wet down the trees at the scene of the fire near Mill Canyon Road. [photo by Gary Meyer]

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    Los Padres National Forest firefighters from the Mt. Pinos Ranger District wet down the trees at the scene of the fire near Mill Canyon Road. [photo by Gary Meyer]

  • A Los Padres National Forest firefighter from the Mt. Pinos Ranger District wets down the charred ground at the scene of the fire. [photo by Gary Meyer]

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    A Los Padres National Forest firefighter from the Mt. Pinos Ranger District wets down the charred ground at the scene of the fire. [photo by Gary Meyer]

  • A Los Padres National Forest firefighter from the Mt. Pinos Ranger District wets down the charred ground at the scene of the fire. [photo by Gary Meyer]

    Image 4 of 10
    A Los Padres National Forest firefighter from the Mt. Pinos Ranger District wets down the charred ground at the scene of the fire. [photo by Gary Meyer]

  • Los Padres National Forest firefighters from the Mt. Pinos Ranger District keep the water flowing at the scene of the fire near Mill Canyon Road. [photo by Gary Meyer]

    Image 5 of 10
    Los Padres National Forest firefighters from the Mt. Pinos Ranger District keep the water flowing at the scene of the fire near Mill Canyon Road. [photo by Gary Meyer]

  • Bright blue skies allowed a joke about ruling out lightning as the cause of the fire. [photo by Gary Meyer]

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    Bright blue skies allowed a joke about ruling out lightning as the cause of the fire. [photo by Gary Meyer]

  • A Ventura County sheriff's deputy appeared to be questioning two young adults at the scene. [photo by Gary Meyer]

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    A Ventura County sheriff's deputy appeared to be questioning two young adults at the scene. [photo by Gary Meyer]

  • An area of ground was marked and searched. [photo by Gary Meyer]

    Image 8 of 10
    An area of ground was marked and searched. [photo by Gary Meyer]

  • Two restless horses ran through the area (and almost over a photographer). [photo by Gary Meyer]

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    Two restless horses ran through the area (and almost over a photographer). [photo by Gary Meyer]

  • A Ventura County Sheriff's deputy inspects a vehicle at the scene. [photo by Gary Meyer]

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    A Ventura County Sheriff's deputy inspects a vehicle at the scene. [photo by Gary Meyer]

FRAZIER PARK/LOCKWOOD VALLEY (Tuesday, June 24, 2014 at 5:43 p.m.)—A small fire that broke out around 4:20 p.m. was extinguished by Los Padres National Forest fire crews with Kern and Ventura Counties also responding. The fire was kept to less than an acre on forest land adjacent to private property off Mill Canyon Road, north of Lockwood Valley Road.

A Ventura County Sheriff’s deputy appeared to be questioning two young adults and inspecting an SUV at the scene while a several hundred square foot area nearby was marked with hazard cones and searched.

Two horses provided comic relief as they emerged from a low pasture and ran through the scene amidst the emergency vehicles.

When the subject of a possible cause of the fire came up in conversation, Los Padres National Forest Mt. Pinos District Fire Management Officer John Abell said with dry humor while standing under a bright blue sky, “We’ll rule out lightning.”

This is part of the June 20, 2014 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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