Firefighters battling a destructive wildfire burning in Southern California are expected to get a break from the strong winds fueling its growth, fire officials reported Nov. 7.
The Mountain Fire covered more than 20,000 acres—about 31 square miles—by Thursday evening, with only 5 percent containment, after burning through Camarillo Heights, about 55 miles northwest of Los Angeles, and destroying more than a hundred homes.
“It’s been a long 26 hours since this incident started, and it remains dynamic,” Ventura County Fire Department Chief Dustin Gardner said at a press conference Thursday morning. “It remains dangerous. To our community members that have been impacted by this fire, our hearts do go out to you. You are our families, you are our communities.”
The strong winds fueling the fire were expected to die down by 6 p.m. Thursday, according to Rich Thompson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard near Los Angeles.
The weather service expected to cancel the red flag warning by Thursday night. The area should see humidity rise with a slight chance of some light rain early next week, according to Thompson.
Ventura County has called in every mutual air resource possible to help fight the fire, according to Gardner. Firefighters from all over California planned to fight the blaze throughout the night, helped by firefighting aircraft and helicopters.
As of Thursday evening, 34 fire crews and almost 400 fire engines were assigned to the fire, with over 2,400 fire personnel working to stop the blaze.
There were issues with water pressure Wednesday night at higher elevations in the Camarillo Heights and Las Posas Estates neighborhoods in Camarillo, Gardner said.
At one point, fire engines were attached to every available fire hydrant, pumping water all night long. The water draw overloaded the system, according to Gardner.
“We did run out of water higher up in the [Camarillo] Heights,” Gardner said. “It was true.”
However, the department was prepared for the possibility and was able to shuttle water up to the area to continue fighting the flames.
About 14,000 people have been told to evacuate since the fire started shortly before 9 a.m. Wednesday, according to Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff. Eleven zones in Camarillo and the surrounding area were evacuated, he said.
There were ten confirmed injuries due to the fire as of Thursday evening, mostly due to smoke inhalation.
The sheriff did not know when residents would be allowed to return home, but officials were working as fast as they could, he said.
“We will repopulate as soon as possible,“ Fryhoff said, ”but we have not begun that process yet. This is still a very active fire, and very unpredictable.”
Officials opened a large animal shelter at the Ventura County Fairgrounds in Ventura, and a small-animal evacuation center at the Ventura County Animal Services facility at the Camarillo Airport.
Several new neighborhoods were evacuated Wednesday night, especially in the Santa Paula area, according to the sheriff.
Resident Alexis Cano said she left her home in the Santa Paula area Wednesday night, though they weren’t ordered to evacuate.
“We saw it steadily coming down with the Santa Ana winds,” Cano told The Epoch Times.
Cano said she watched as firefighters waited for the flames to hit a certain point on the mountain behind her house. She was concerned the fire would jump the banks of the Santa Clara river nearby.
Cano and her children stayed at her mother’s house and monitored the fire all night, but came back home Thursday, she said.
“Our hearts are here for those people in the direct line of fire,” she said. “It’s a lot different to watch it from where we were but still ... It’s so sad.”
Fire crews were working to keep the fire south of South Mountain Road, adjacent to the Santa Clara River, the fire chief said.
Emergency responders were still in life-saving mode and focused on saving properties Thursday, according to Ventura County Fire Division Chief Jeff Shea.
Fire investigators have not yet determined how the blaze started at the intersection of Balcom Canyon and Bradley roads in the community of Somis.
The area was under an extreme fire danger warning Wednesday as Santa Ana winds whipped up to more than 65 miles an hour, providing fuel to spread the fast-moving flames in dry grass. The area also had low humidity.
After the fire broke out Wednesday morning, the winds caused it to explode in size, jumping highway 118 into Camarillo Heights and burning west, north, and south into Camarillo Estates.
Dozens of homes were destroyed in the fire. Ten damage inspection teams were dispatched to search every street and property Thursday to determine how many were destroyed or damaged, according to Ventura County Fire Department Spokesman Andy VanSciver.
“This is a challenging fire,” VanSciver said at an afternoon press conference Thursday. “This is going to take some time. We want to do it right the first time and make notifications to the property owners that their property has been damaged or destroyed.”
Currently the teams have competed 298 inspections and discovered 132 homes that have been destroyed, VanSciver said.
About 31,200 electrical customers in Ventura County were without power Thursday morning, according to county officials. Southern California Edison set up centers in Moorpark, Simi, and Ventura to help customers.
