December fire scorches 600 acres
By Sharon Makokian
Acorn Staff Writer

SEEMS MORE LIKE OCTOBER-No homes burned and nobody was injured after a 600-acre fire charred hillsides and foothills near Lakeview Canyon and Woodland Grove Court. Houses on Hunter Valley, Royal Vista Court and Via Colinas Court were threatened. Flames forced five road closures: Thousand Oaks Boulevard, Lindero Canyon Road, Via Colinas and Via Merida. The fire was reported at 2:26 a.m. Tues., Dec. 26 when a minivan got caught in the brush, overheated and ignited a fire. Three juvenile males and one adult male, 18, were arrested in conjunction with the blaze and charged with vehicle theft.

Four local teenagers inadvertently caused what became a 600-acre fire when heat and sparks from the vehicle they had allegedly stolen ignited with dry brush in areas near Lakeview Canyon Road and Woodland Grove Court. The fire was reported at 2:26 a.m. Tuesday in the Westlake portion of T.O.

No structures were damaged in the fire and there were no injuries. Gusty winds of 40 mph hampered the Ventura County Fire Department, but the fire was 70 percent contained by 10 a.m. The blaze was battled by 600 firefighters from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the L.A. City Fire Department and several other agencies.

Four males, including three juveniles—two 16 year olds from Agoura Hills and one 17 year old from Thousand Oaks—as well as one adult, Chad Montagnio, 18, of Westlake Village, were issued citations for carelessly causing the fire (a misdemeanor offense), said Sgt. Ron Nelson of the Thousand Oaks Police Department.

The four were then turned over to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department’s Lost Hills Station, where they were each charged with vehicle theft, a felony. Earlier that evening, the mother of one of the Agoura Hills juvenile suspects had reported her minivan as stolen.

"They went off-roading with mom’s Caravan, which is not set up for it (two, not four-wheel drive), and got stuck in the brush. The heat of the engine and the exhaust ignited the fire," said Matt Dunn, juvenile investigator.

Upon hearing the sirens, the four teenagers apparently ran from the scene, but were detained by security personnel at the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall who quickly called the police, Dunn said.

Dunn described the teenager who allegedly stole his mother’s car as "incorrigible."

"We, in the Juvenile Intervention Unit, have been dealing with him for years," he said.

The under 18-year-old suspects were transferred to juvenile facilities in Sylmar, where they currently remained at press time. Montagnio was released on $20,000 bail.

The Ventura County Fire Department was totaling the firefighting costs at deadline. The alleged perpetrators (or their parents) can be held financially responsible for the costs.

"As a parent, you’re liable for anything your child does," said Dunn.