Ordeal in Oak Park

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers THE DAY AFTER—Hikers climb a burned mountainside above Smokey Ridge Avenue in Oak Park where an antenna is located. As fire approached the homes in Oak Park last week, pockets of residents gathered outside and shared information about the frightening ordeal.

Jackie Beuzieron said she had been watching news reports since Wednesday evening. At 4:30 a.m., she said her family packed and were on stand-by for evacuation.

“We could see the flames from the porch,” Beuzieron said. “We’ve been packed and ready to go, but we haven’t had to evacuate.”

On the 1400 block of Colchester Place in Oak Park, John Matarazzo stood outside his home as the nearby hillside continued to smolder. Although the fire was within yards of the homes along the culde-sac that borders the brush-filled canyon, no homes were lost and none of the residents were ordered to evacuate.

Matarazzo pointed to a grove of Pepper Trees just a few yards from his home, indicating where helicopters had been dropping water just an hour earlier. Matarazzo said he had spent the last three months remodeling his home and was relieved when fire crews finally extinguished the blaze.

Greg Steininger, who also lives on Colchester Place, said he evacuated his family at 3:30 a.m. after volunteers from the Red Cross asked residents to leave voluntary. Steininger said he and his wife took their two teenage children to the home of a nearby relative.

Steininger said he didn’t want to wait until the last minute to evacuate his family. “We took a couple of hours packing the car with files, records, passports and photos,” Steininger said. “But the fire fighters have been tireless in fighting this fire. When it got serious, they jumped into action. They’ve been fantastic.”

All evacuation orders were lifted on Friday afternoon and the residents were allowed to return home. As they drove home, many stopped to thank fire crews on the way. A few did even more.

Eric Blum, an Oak Park resident whose home was spared from the blaze, decided to show his appreciation for area firefighters by using his chiropractic expertise to sooth their stiff muscles and strained backs.

“They came to save my house, so I’m going to help them,” Blum said. “It’s the least I can do.”

Blum, a chiropractor with offices in Thousand Oaks, closed his practice early on Friday so he could give free on-site medical attention to the firefighters stationed at the command post in Thousand Oaks.

Although Blum said the firefighters he treated didn’t report any major injuries, they still suffered from tight backs, stiff shoulders and sore necks.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation, officials said.