Firefighters knew the charred skeleton of a tractor was still smoking when they left the valley floor in Ventura County last year, but didn’t think it posed any danger.

A week after crews declared the 1.8-acre Balcom fire out, powerful Santa Ana winds arrived, picked up some bits of hot rubber from one of the tractor’s scorched tires and carried them over into dry vegetation, bringing the fire back to life, according to investigators.

Though Ventura County Fire Department officials said they went by the book when they left the Balcom fire— clearing containment lines, dropping retardant and even using a drone with an infrared camera to identify lingering heat — it wasn’t enough. The Mountain fire burned nearly 20,000 acres and destroyed roughly 250 homes and structures in Camarillo Hills

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