CAMARILLO, California – Equipment failure on an electrical transmission line owned and operated by Southern California Edison (SCE) caused the 2019 Easy Fire, which burned about 1,800 acres and damaged two structures in Ventura County, an investigation by the Ventura County Fire Department determined.
Fire investigators found that the fire started when an insulator attached to high-voltage power lines swung into a steel power pole.
The insulator showed damage consistent with grounding against the steel pole. The Easy Fire started October 30, 2019, in an open area of the Rancho Simi Recreation and Park District in Simi Valley.
Red Flag weather conditions consisting of strong winds, low humidity and warm temperatures drove the fire quickly southwest toward homes along Tierra Rejada Road and the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Over the next two weeks, the fire burned 1,806 acres and damaged two structures.
The origin and cause of the fire was determined by Ventura County Fire Department investigators, who were dispatched to the scene in cooperation with CAL FIRE, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and the Simi Valley Police Department.
