Thousands of people were urged to flee an out-of-control wildfire burning around communities near Los Angeles on Thursday, with scores of homes already lost to the fast-moving flames.
Fierce seasonal winds had cast embers up to three miles (five kilometers) from the seat of the fire around Camarillo, with new spots burning on hillsides, farmland and in residential areas.
The Mountain Fire grew rapidly from a standing start early Wednesday, and by the following day had consumed 20,485 acres (8,290 hectares), with towering flames leaping unpredictably and sending residents scrambling.
The fire was only five percent contained as of Thursday evening, authorities said, although wind patterns were expected to favor firefighters through the night.
“We’ve been up all night watching this. I haven’t slept,” Erica Preciado told one local broadcaster as she drove her family out of the danger zone.
“We’re just trying to get a safe place. I didn’t even know what to take. I just have everything in my car,” she said, gesturing tearfully to her packed vehicle.
Authorities said that based on initial inspections, at least 132 homes had been completely destroyed, with 88 more damaged by the fires.
One man told broadcaster KTLA he and his family had fled their home of 27 years, finding out later that it had been destroyed.
“It’s all gone,” he said, his voice catching. “It’s all gone.”
Dawn Deleon described how she had only moments to flee with her six dogs.
“We watched the neighbors’ houses burning and figured it was time to get out of there,” she said.
“We left and were just gone for five minutes and went back to get my phone, and the house was already on fire and gone.”
– Winds to abate –
Ventura County Fire Department officials said they were throwing resources at the blaze in an area that is home to 30,000 people, but that changing wind patterns meant there was hope the fire could die down in the coming days.
“Winds are subsiding over the lower elevations while remaining still gusty over the higher elevations,” said Ariel Cohen of the National Weather Service.
“By the time we get to 11:00 am (on Friday) the winds will further subside across the region, and we are not expecting any red flag warnings to be in effect for the area.”
On Thursday, California Governor Gavin Newsom visited communities impacted by the fire and declared a state of emergency in the worst-affected area of Ventura County.
There, crews on the ground had defended homes with hose lines working alongside bulldozers that were trying to remove fuels.
Helicopter pilots worked throughout the night on Wednesday dropping water, said Ventura County fire captain Trevor Johnson. That was expected to continue on Thursday night.
Hoses ran dry for crews battling the flames at one point late Wednesday, Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said.
He said hundreds of fire trucks had been pumping water all night, putting a strain on resources.
“We have been fighting fire actively now for 26 hours, and we found all of those fire trucks hooked up to all of those hydrants, and we drained water systems down,” he told reporters.
That affected supplies higher up hillsides, and forced crews to shuttle water up to the blazes.
He said while it was not a common problem, it is known to happen in major incidents.
“It’s normal enough that we plan for it, so it’s impactful, but it will be mitigated,” he said.
– ‘Very dangerous’ –
At least 400 homes had been evacuated, Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said, adding that 250 residents had chosen to stay behind.
“I urge everyone to stay out of the areas that are impacted. The fire is still very dangerous,” he said.
The cause of the fire was not immediately known, but meteorologists had raised a Red Flag Warning and a rare Particularly Dangerous Situation (PDS) warning in the area, indicating dangerous fire conditions.
They said two years of above-average rainfall had sparked abundant growth of vegetation, which was now all bone-dry after a long, hot summer.
Electricity companies had cut power to tens of thousands of customers in the area — a common strategy in California during high winds in a bid to reduce the risk of new fires from toppled power lines.