A patch of land in Ventura County's Los Padres Forest where the ground heated up to 812 degrees Friday continues to puzzle firefighters and geologists after a month and a half of monitoring. "It's a thermal anomaly," said Ron Oatman, spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department. Firefighters first responded to the hot spot a month and a half ago, Oatman said. There were no visible flames, but they created a containment line about 2 feet wide and monitored the two-acre plot. Because the smoke was not going away, the containment line was widened to about 30 feet Friday, he...
