A fast-moving wildfire broke out in Southern California on Wednesday, destroying homes and sending firefighters rushing to get residents out of their homes and to safety, officials said.
The Ventura County Mountain Fire prompted evacuation orders and grew to more than 10,400 acres, fueled by what fire officials called a major Santa Ana wind event.
Firefighters at the scene of the wildfire, which broke out between the communities of Moorpark and Somis, “were met with a heavy firefight,” Ventura County Fire Chief Trevor Johnson said.
“Firefighters immediately worked to get people out of their homes and save lives,” Johnson said.
The fire spread so quickly that firefighters drove residents from the area in fire trucks because of the danger, he said.
The fire department did not have a count of the number of structures destroyed.
The fire started at 8:51 a.m. local time, said the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire. It was 0% under control on Wednesday afternoon and the cause is being investigated.
High winds prevented fixed-wing aircraft from helping to battle the flames, the Ventura County Fire Department said.
According to a fire brigade spokesperson, several people were injured and taken to hospitals. The fire affected the Camarillo Heights area near Camarillo, the department said.
News helicopter video showed destroyed homes in one residential area and firefighters trying to extinguish flames in another residential area. Other homes burned over a wide area, the video showed, and the fires continued to burn Wednesday evening.
A retired firefighter living in Camarillo Heights and his two sons used fire hoses to soak their property and stop local fires caused by embers carried by high winds.
“Hell” is how he described the day in a live interview with NBC Los Angeles on site. “It’s been non-stop since it started this morning. We’re just chasing flames. The wind direction is just swirling.”
The fire crossed State Route 118 and part of it was closed due to fire on both sides of the highway, the California Transportation Department said. The highway was closed from Santa Clara Avenue to Tierra Rejada Road.
Smoke also limited visibility and slowed traffic on busy U.S. 101, south of the state highway, the department said at X.
High winds caused fires to start 2 miles before the site of the original blaze, Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said.
“Bush burning, grass burning, hedgerows burning, agricultural fields burning and structures burning,” Gardner said. “This fire is moving dangerously fast.”
Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff said officials have made more than 14,000 contacts with people in the community because of the fire, and he urged people to stay out of the area.
Johnson of the Ventura County Fire Department said at a news conference that he had no details on the injuries, but that the fire is a challenge for firefighters.
“Everything is dangerous there,” he said. “While driving – they can’t see five feet in front of their motorcycle – operating in and around power lines, gas lines that are on fire.”
It was too dangerous to send fire inspectors on Wednesday to determine the extent of the destruction, the fire department said, but officials expected a count of the number of buildings lost on Thursday.
The National Weather Service said high winds of up to about 60 miles per hour created an extreme fire danger Wednesday. A gust of wind was recorded around the fire area at a speed of 90 kilometers per hour, the report said.
A camera from the University of California San Diego’s ALERTCalifornia public safety program showed the fire’s spread.
Cal Fire said it has activated an incident management team for the Mountain Fire.
Another wildfire broke out in Malibu, closer to Los Angeles, on Wednesday, prompting a shelter-in-place order that was later lifted.
The Broad Fire burned about 33 acres, but its progress was halted and firefighters were cleaning up late Wednesday afternoon, Malibu City Council said.
No injuries were reported, but three homes were damaged by the fire, which started around 9 a.m. near Pacific Coast Highway, Mayor Doug Stewart said.
Santa Ana winds are a weather phenomenon in California that occurs when air from desert areas flows east to west toward the coast and is channeled through the mountains.
The airport in Camarillo recorded a gust of 60 mph on Wednesday, part of the western Santa Monica Mountains recorded a gust of 75 mph, and there were gusts of 75 mph and 85 mph in the San Gabriel Mountains, according to the National Weather Service.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
