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California firefighters face flames, heat and a bull

The animal "was in the bushes and came out to challenge the firefighters," said a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department.

A group of Southern California firefighters had their hands full with triple-digit temperatures, unpredictable flames and wild brush that blocked their path.

Then a bull came for them.

As about a half-dozen firefighters worked Friday to clear a remote road for engines working on the Lake Fire, about 63 miles north of Los Angeles, a bull chased them away. No one was injured.

"The bull was in the bushes and came out to challenge the firefighters," said Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Andy VanSciver. "Like, 'This is my dirt.'"

Video showed the firefighters running down a road with the bull and its horns quickly following. Crews had seen the bull earlier in the morning, VanSciver said. They believe his name is Maxwell or Ferdinand, Ventura County Fire Department officials said.

As many as 30 firefighters were in the area, but video shows only about five or six being chased down the road, VanSciver said.

The Ventura County crews were helping Los Angeles County Fire Department firefighters working on the blaze in the Angeles National Forest.

By Saturday the fired had burned 14,714 acres and was 12 percent contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Investigators were trying to determine what caused the fire to start Wednesday.