Driven by powerful Santa Ana winds, the Mountain Fire in Ventura County forced more than 10,000 people to evacuate their homes as it exploded across thousands of acres within hours, injuring people and destroying homes in its path.
Within five hours, the wildfire grew to more than 10,000 hectares before expanding to more than 14,000 hectares by 7:30 pm on Wednesday, authorities said. According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, the first spark occurred around 8:50 a.m. on South Mountain in the Moorpark area, near the 7900 block of Balcom Canyon Road and Bradley Road.
The Mountain Fire raged Wednesday night, burning more than 14,000 acres while still at 0% containment.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom said more than 10,000 people were forced to evacuate as the fire threatened 3,500 homes, businesses and other buildings. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has provided funding to assist with firefighting efforts, he said.
Thursday morning, about a day later, the wildfire remained at 0% containment. However, authorities estimated the fire at 14,500 hectares by then – and did not change much in size overnight, as the fire was almost 14,200 hectares at 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Ventura County authorities are expected to provide an update on firefighting efforts at 10 a.m. Thursday.
According to the fire department, several people were injured and had to be hospitalized. At an overnight shelter in Camarillo, an American Red Cross spokesperson said nurses at the shelter treated people for abrasions and minor burns they suffered while trying to escape the flames. The shelter provided beds and bedding for families forced to flee their homes while they remained evacuated overnight.
Several evacuees have spoken about this friends try to helpFamily members and neighbors flee as the spreading fire tore through areas of Camarillo, Moorpark and Somis. Tens Schools announced closuresthousands faced with power outages and the city of Ventura asked for residents to limit their water use so that firefighters have enough to fight the fire.
About 800 firefighters are battling the blaze, while Ventura County fire officials said they were focusing on lifesaving efforts.
“Our first priority here at Ventura County Fire, in responding to this incident, is the safety of lives,” said firefighter and Ventura County Fire spokesman Andrew Dowd. “And we urge all residents in the affected areas to ensure they follow evacuation orders. That is our first priority.”
Wind gusts in the Mountain Fire area reached 63 km/h in both Moorpark and Simi Valley around Thursday morning, with a high wind warning expected to remain in effect until 4pm when winds are forecast to decrease to around 24 km/h o’clock.
Evacuation orders
The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office issued evacuation orders for thousands of residents in Camarillo, Somis and near the Santa Clara River. As the fire continued to burn south Thursday morning, evacuation orders were in effect in the Camarillo area, including near Las Posas Country Club and Sterling Hills Golf Club, given the fire’s path.
“All evacuation orders and warnings remain in effect due to the extreme fire danger,” fire officials said in an update Thursday morning.
A real-time map of evacuation orders can be found here.
Authorities established an evacuation center in Padre Serra parishlocated at 5205 Upland Road in Camarillo.
Homeowners with large pets were advised to drop off their animals at the Ventura County Fairgrounds, located at 10 E. Harbor Boulevard, while small pets can be taken to the Ventura County Animal Services center at the Camarillo Airport, located at 600 Aviation Drive.
Road closures remained in place at the following locations on Thursday.
- Lewis Road north at Las Posas
- Eastbound Highway 118 at Wells Road
- Westbound Highway 118 at Tierra Rejada Road
School closures
Dozens of schools in Ventura County are closed because of the Mountain Fire, with some campuses closed because of poor air quality caused by the massive wildfire and some because of power shutoffs by utilities trying to prevent further wildfire risks.
Some schools are taking precautions, such as keeping students indoors on campuses that remain open but are widespread smoke and ash in the air.
“Our hearts break for our Camarillo families who have lost their homes,” the Pleasant Valley School District said as they announced the closures. “We know our students have been affected by the events of the day. When we return to school, all schools will have plans in place to support the mental health needs of our students.”
A complete list of school closures can be found here.
Strong Santa Ana winds fuel flames
The fire comes amid heavy winds lashing much of Southern California, prompting the fire National Weather Service officials will issue red flag warnings. In this particular case, they spent a warning “Extremely dangerous situation”.a rare weather advisory that forecasters say is issued only once every few years due to particularly severe conditions.
Meteorologists tracked some wind gusts that reached more than 60 miles per hour as the fire burned Wednesday. Winds have subsided Thursday, with gusts in the area expected to be around 30 miles per hour until around noon, when winds are expected to decrease.
Within hours of the fire first starting, high winds grounded fixed-wing firefighting aircraft, posing another hurdle to full containment, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.
According to climate scientist Dr. Josh Fisher of Chapman University, many factors came together to cause the wildfire to spread rapidly as it rose and rose up the hills as it burned through Ventura County neighborhoods.
“That fire will spread faster just because the fire is moving upward,” Fisher said. “So we have these conditions of the topography, the wind and the plants – and also being close to roads and human properties – all coming together to make this a lot worse than it could have been if the wind had been like that.” calm, the vegetation was wet.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, authorities said.
Residents respond
With the dynamic situation, where hundreds of hectares of vegetation are rapidly decimated in just a few hours, residents were forced to take action to evacuate their homes.
“We’ve never seen anything like this. Never thought something like this would happen to us,” said Ken Levin, who lives in a house next to Spanish Hills. ‘But the fire brigade is there, they are bulldozing firebreaks at the back of our property and the wind is turning south. So we feel good about where we are. … I think we’ll be fine.”
“Thank God for our firefighters who are here to help us when we need it,” he said.
