Transients' encampment fire could've started larger blaze: VCSO

Two residents of a homeless encampment in Oxnard were arrested Tuesday for lighting a fire in an area that could have resulted in a wildfire.

Roberto Banuelos, 43, and Alejandro Ruiz, 29, used a propane torch to set a blaze at an illegal encampment in the 5000 block of West Gonzales Road, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.

The encampment is in an area of “several privately owned and maintained agricultural and industrial properties,” officials said, and the fire itself was “surrounded by a large amount of dry brush and dead shrubbery.”

“Deputies learned Banuelos and Ruiz were illegally camping on the property and lit the fire with a propane torch,” the release added.

The fire was extinguished, as “any fires in an encampment, regardless of size, pose a significant threat to public safety,” the Sheriff’s Office said.

“Due to the rural areas of encampments, fires often spread uncontrolled. These fires pose a threat to others in the area and require numerous resources due to their remote locations. They also damage local habitats, along with threatening wildlife, and endangered species,” the release added.

Banuelos and Ruiz were arrested on charges of starting a reckless fire and criminal conspiracy, and Banuelos was also arrested on an unrelated warrant.

Jail records show that both men have been released, and no court information was available for Ruiz.

Banuelos is due to appear in Ventura County Superior Court on June 5, 2025.