Wild winds fuel Southern California wildfire that has forced thousands to evacuate
CAMARILLO, California — A fast-moving wildfire, fanned by heavy winds, raged through a community northwest of Los Angeles for a second day Thursday. dozens of houses destroyed and forced thousands of residents to flee as it exploded in size within hours.
The Mountain Fire prompted evacuation orders for more than 10,000 people on Wednesday as it threatened 3,500 structures in suburban communities, farms and agricultural areas around Camarillo, California, Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement. The fire was at 0% as of late Wednesday, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.
The National Weather Service said a red flag warning, indicating high fire danger conditions, would remain in effect until 6 p.m. Thursday. Winds are expected to decrease significantly Thursday evening, the weather service said.
Officials in several Southern California counties have urged Southern California residents to be on the lookout for fast-spreading fires, power outages and downed trees in the latest round of wildfires. infamous Santa Ana winds.
The Mountain Fire raged in a region that has seen some of California’s most destructive fires over the years. A thick plume of smoke rose hundreds of feet into the air Wednesday, blanketing entire neighborhoods and limiting visibility for firefighters and evacuees. The fire grew from less than half a square mile (about 1.2 square kilometers) to more than 16 square miles (62 square kilometers) in just over five hours.
First responders urged residents to evacuate. Officers contacted 14,000 people to urge them to leave as embers spread for miles, fanning new flames.
Ventura County Fire Captain Trevor Johnson described crews racing their engines toward homes threatened by flames to save lives.
“This is as intense as it gets. I’m sure the hair on the back of the firefighters’ necks stood on end,” he said during a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Two people apparently suffered smoke inhalation and were taken to hospitals on Wednesday, fire officials said. No firefighters reported any significant injuries.
Officials said they used all means, including water-dropping helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft dropping fire retardant, but the fire was still out of control. Andrew Dowd, a Ventura County fire spokesman, said he had no details on how many buildings were damaged.
Meanwhile, to the south, Los Angeles County Fire Department crews tried to contain a wildfire near Malibu’s Broad Beach, while authorities briefly closed the Pacific Coast Highway as flames burned near multimillion-dollar properties. Residents were urged to shelter in place as planes dropped water on the 50-acre Broad Fire. As of Wednesday evening, the fire was 60% contained and its progress was halted, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said in a statement. Fire officials said two buildings were on fire.
With forecast wind gusts of up to 50 miles per hour and humidity as low as 9%, parts of Southern California could experience conditions ripe for “extreme and life-threatening” fire behavior through Thursday, the weather service said. The wind gusts reached a speed of 98 kilometers per hour on Wednesday.
Forecasters also issued red flag warnings through Thursday from California’s central coast through the San Francisco Bay Area and into counties to the north, where strong winds were also expected.
Utilities in California began turning off equipment in strong winds and extreme fire hazard after a series of massive and deadly wildfires in recent years were caused by power lines and other infrastructure. On Wednesday, more than 65,000 customers in Southern California were preventively without power, and more than 20,000 in Northern California.
Wednesday’s fires burned in the same areas as other recent devastating fires, including 2018 Woolsey firethat killed three people and destroyed 1,600 homes near Los Angeles, and the 2017 Thomas Fire, which destroyed more than a thousand homes and other structures in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Southern California Edison has paid tens of millions of dollars to settle claims after its equipment was blamed for both fires.
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Dazio and Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press journalists Ryan Pearson in Los Angeles, Amy Taxin in Orange County, California, Olga Rodriguez and Janie Har in San Francisco, and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City contributed to this report.