Jackass stunt triggers plane crash fears over Simi Valley hills
(CLAIR | Simi Valley, CA) — The column of smoke that rose over the hills near Simi Dog Park on Friday was not a plane crash, an industrial accident, or a wildfire. It was the last day of "Jackass."...the movie!
Johnny Knoxville confirmed on social media that the explosion residents saw Friday was a stunt filmed for the upcoming movie "Jackass: Best and Last." The New York Post reported the blast sent a towering plume of smoke into the sky, visible for miles, and sparked concern for some across the city.
"Apparently people thought a plane had crashed yesterday in Simi Valley," Knoxville wrote. "Little did they know it was from a monstrous explosion @jemfxpopov created for us for the final day ever of 'Jackass' filming."
Knoxville added that the cast was close enough to feel it. "We were standing near the explosion and couldn't believe what we were seeing," he wrote.
The blast went off near Simi Dog Park. Instagram user @joeknowsventura captured video of the smoke cloud rising over the hills, footage that quickly circulated on local feeds and was picked up by KTLA5. For a few minutes, residents traded theories. Some thought a small plane had gone down. Others assumed something had caught fire in the brush. None of those guesses were right.
The source was a planned pyrotechnic effect.
A spokesperson for the Ventura County Fire Department told the New York Post that filming activity of this kind is not unusual in the area. Big Sky Movie Ranch, a few miles north of Simi Valley, has hosted productions since the 1960s, and large effects shoots in the surrounding hills happen often.
"Jackass: Best and Last" is being billed by the production as the final film in the long-running franchise, which began on MTV in 2000 and has produced four theatrical releases. Knoxville's post framed Friday's shoot as the end of an era. The explosion near Simi Dog Park was, in his words, the last day ever of "Jackass" filming.
For the crew, it was a wrap. For the people who saw the smoke from their backyards, it was a reminder that the hills around Simi Valley have been a backdrop for Hollywood for longer than most of the neighborhoods that now look out on them. What residents saw Friday was not an emergency. It was a movie, ending the way a "Jackass" movie would.
No injuries were reported.
