Evacuations due to mountain fires continue to increase in Ventura County

More evacuations were ordered on the second day of the Mountain Fire that has burned 14,000 acres in Ventura County.

New evacuations were ordered Thursday morning for the Santa Paula and Bardsdale areas, along the Santa Clara River and to the western edge of Moorpark.

Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryoff said at a news conference Thursday morning that the fire remains “very active … and unpredictable.” On the first day the fire burned westward; On Thursday the wind had changed direction and the fire brigade concentrated on the northeast edge.

The mountain fire was reported just before 9 a.m. on Wednesday, November 6, during a red flag warning that covered much of the California coast. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said Thursday.

According to the Ventura County Fire Department, the area burned was estimated at 14,159 acres (22 square miles), with 0% containment.

As of Thursday morning, evacuations spanned nearly 80 square miles — the area shown in red on the map above — including some neighborhoods in Camarillo. The black line shows the approximate extent of the fire. For the latest information on evacuation orders, visit the Ventura County emergency website.

Teams were on site to assess homes and other buildings that were destroyed or damaged. No numbers were released at Thursday morning’s press conference.

Fixed-wing aircraft could not be used on the first day of fighting the fire due to strong winds, but were in use on Thursday.

A spokesman for the National Weather Service said maximum gusts were about 35 mph in the Ventura area Thursday morning; on Wednesday they had reached 80 miles per hour. Winds were expected to continue to ease by late afternoon, and the red flag warning indicating increased fire danger was set to expire at 6 p.m

Another round of strong Santa Ana winds is forecast for the Ventura County region next week, the weather service said.

The mountain fire is south of the Thomas Fire, which started in December 2017 and burned 281,893 acres and destroyed more than 1,000 structures.

Originally published: November 7, 2024 at 11:13 am PST

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