STATE : Fire Rousts 5,000 in Fillmore
FILLMORE — About half the population of this Ventura County farming town got a rude awakening today when they were evacuated from their homes because of a fire at a garden center.
Fillmore Fire Department officials said the evacuation of about 5,000 people, which began around midnight, was ordered as a precautionary measure because a variety of chemicals and pesticides were stored at the nursery.
“We didn’t know what was there or what was going to blow,” a spokeswoman said.
Some residents spent the night in a Red Cross shelter. They were allowed to return to their homes at 5:30 a.m.
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