Firefighters defend response to 20,000-acre Mountain Fire still burning in Ventura County

Nearly a week after the destructive Mountain Fire destroyed more than a hundred buildings and torched tens of thousands of acres of brush in Ventura County, firefighters are defending their response to the blaze as some residents return to their burnt homes. 

Some lingering hotspots remain, keeping crews busy five days after the devastating blaze broke out in Moorpark on Wednesday. The rapidly-moving flames, fueled by powerful gusts of wind blowing through the area, quickly moved through the area, jumping a freeway and heading into neighborhoods in Camarillo and Somis. 

By the end of the week, firefighters reported that the fire had engulfed 20,630 acres, destroyed 192 structures and damaged 82 others. As of Monday evening it's 42% contained, with utility service crews returning to the area in hopes of restoring power to residents whose homes are still standing. 

All evacuation orders have been lifted, allowing people to return to their scorched neighborhoods. They're questioning why their homes were so quickly engulfed by the flames, forcing firefighters to defendtheir response to the volatile situation. 

"I know we made tactical mistakes, I know they were made," said Ventura County Fire Department Chief Dustin Gardner at a community meeting on Sunday evening. 

Though he admits that their response had it's fault, he was quick to point out that no one died as a result of the fire. 

"We had 100, 100+ physical rescues ... that's 100 humans. That's 100 members of our community that are safe now," he said. "We evacuated tens of thousands of people. Those people are safe."

While his response was met with applause at the meeting, some homeowners have started to share their own stories, claiming that they saw crews leaving as fire was still raging outside of their homes. 

Read more: How the Mountain Fire was fueled by an "environmental recipe" leading to disaster

Chief Gardner said that in the midst of such an intense firefight, tough but necessary choices are made, and that no battle is perfect. 

"A tactical error is when one of our companies pulls up with zero visibility and 80 mile an hour winds and embers flying in their face and they take that three second pause to identify a structure and they look and say, 'Is the structure savable, or should I bump to the next house and save that?'" Gardner said. "That's a split second decision the men and women in the field are making, and they are gonna reanalyze that and say, 'Maybe I should have bumped to the next house. Maybe I shouldn't have committed to that house.'"

He further noted that the department will learn from their response to the Mountain Fire in preparation for their next firefight, and that he understands that criticism is to be expected from the people who just lost so much. 

"They care more about you than they do themselves," said Deputy Chief Chad Cook during Sunday's meeting. "I want you to hear that. The men and women of our department care more about everybody in this room than they care about themselves."

He also echoed the statement made by his deputy chief on Sunday. 

"Your firefighters will give their lives to protect your lives," Gardner said.