Mystery Hot Spots in Ventura County Spark Burning Questions

"Scientists puzzle over source of county hot spots"
Ventura County Star (August 6, 2008)

"High atop a steep grass-covered mountain overlooking the Little Sespe Canyon near Fillmore, the earth is on fire.

"Wisps of smoke rise from a brown patch of grass that looks like it was toasted under an oven's broiler. Deep down, under the dirt, rocks and grass, something is smoldering and burning, sending smoke through cracks in the parched soil.

"It's being called a natural anomaly, a geological whodunit, a scientific puzzler. And it's the second time that scientists have been scratching their heads over the fact the earth under Ventura County is burning."

One of the more plausible explanations in this geology whodunnit involves a landslide.

The article's a pretty good writeup on a scientific curiosity: which, thankfully, isn't in a very heavily-populated area.