County, State Sue 2 Teens, Adult Over Cost of Fire

Ventura County and state firefighters are suing a Ventura parent and two teenagers to recover $235,000 spent fighting a 1996 brush fire.

The suit was filed July 6 in Ventura County Superior Court, exactly two years after the 400-acre brush fire raged through Harmon Canyon between Ventura and Santa Paula. It alleges that the teens negligently started the fire while smoking cigarettes and lighting illegal fireworks.

The suit also charges Anne Perry of Ventura, mother of one of the teens, with negligent supervision.

Noting that the fire occurred two days after the Fourth of July holiday, the suit alleges that Perry “should have known” that the teens were lighting fireworks but “nevertheless failed to exercise reasonable care to prevent such conduct.”

Reached at her Ventura home Thursday, Perry said she had not yet seen the suit and only heard snippets of it through media phone calls.

“This is the result of a tragic accident--kids,” she said. “That’s it. I think they’re just looking for someone to hang up” as an example.

“These are two local kids, who are good kids,” she said. “It was a tragic accident. It was not premeditated. It was not meant to be. It was very unfortunate that it happened, but thank god no one got hurt.”

The suit was filed by the county counsel’s office on behalf of the Ventura County Fire Department and the California Department of Forestry.

The $235,000 figure is based on the cost of fighting the fire and the follow-up investigation and attorney’s fees to recover the costs.

The fire started on a parched hilltop near Ventura’s Ondulando area. Although flames came within yards of the expensive ocean-view homes, no buildings were damaged and no residents were evacuated.

Ventura police arrested the Ventura girl and Camarillo boy, both 15, moments after the blaze started.

A month after the fire, former county Fire Chief James Sewell said the department was considering filing a lawsuit against the city of Fillmore, where the youths told investigators they purchased the fireworks.

Fillmore is the only city in the county where the sale of “safe and sane” fireworks and their use on the Fourth of July is legal. The threatened suit, however, never materialized.

Officials with the county counsel’s office did not return several phone calls Thursday.

Fire Department spokeswoman Sandi Wells, however, said such legal action is becoming increasingly common across the nation as fire agencies seek to recover firefighting costs.

“Even though the taxpayers pay for our services, some of the costs caused by negligence or intentional behavior go far beyond what the taxpayers are paying for,” Wells said. “That’s where individuals need to take responsibility. Across the country, you’ll see more and more agencies going for cost recovery.”

A hearing on the suit is scheduled for Sept. 14.