Wildfire in California is spiraling out of control, but firefighters could take a break as winds die down

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — A wildfire northwest of Los Angeles burned out of control for a second day Thursday after destroying dozens of homes. However, officials said firefighters could take a break as strong winds were expected to ease by the evening.

READ MORE: California’s utility shuts off power in 12 counties as Diablo winds increase wildfire risk

More than 10,000 residents continued to evacuate as the mountain fire continued to threaten approximately 3,500 structures in suburban neighborhoods, ranches and agricultural areas around Camarillo in Ventura County. The fire, which broke out around 9 a.m. on Wednesday, could not be contained.

County firefighters said teams, working in steep terrain with support from water-dropping helicopters, were focused on protecting homes on hillsides on the fire’s northeast edge near the city of Santa Paula, home to more than 30,000 people.

“It has been a long 26 hours since this incident began and it remains dynamic and continues to be dangerous,” Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said at a briefing Thursday morning.

Sharon Boggie said the fire came within 200 feet of her property in Santa Paula.

“We thought we were going to lose it at 7 o’clock this morning,” Boggie said outside her home Thursday as white smoke billowed through the neighborhood. She initially fled with her two dogs, while her sister and nephew stayed behind. Hours later, the situation seemed better, she said.

The National Weather Service said a red flag warning indicating high fire danger conditions would remain in effect until 6 p.m. Winds are expected to ease significantly but humidity will remain critically low, forecasters said.

Officials in several Southern California counties urged residents to watch out for fast-spreading fires, power outages and downed trees during the latest round of the infamous Santa Ana winds.

The Mountain Fire burned in a region that has seen some of California’s most devastating fires over the years. A thick cloud of smoke rose several hundred meters into the sky on Wednesday, covering entire neighborhoods and reducing visibility for firefighters and evacuees. Aerial television footage showed flames consuming dozens of homes as embers whipped through apartment blocks.

The fire quickly grew from less than half a square mile (about 1.2 square kilometers) to more than 16 square miles (41 square kilometers) in just over five hours. An area of ​​just over 22 square miles (57 square kilometers) was mapped Thursday morning.

At least 800 firefighters responded to the blaze and hundreds more came from across the state, the agency said. Numerous structures were affected, firefighters said, but the extent of the destruction could not be known until the ten damage assessment teams deployed on Thursday had completed their work.

First responders pleaded with residents to follow evacuation orders. Officials contacted 14,000 people and urged them to evacuate as embers spread up to 5 kilometers (3 miles) and sparked new flames.

The Ventura County Board of Education said more than a dozen school districts and campuses in the county were closed Thursday and some were expected to close as early as Friday.

Two people suffered apparent smoke inhalation and were taken to hospitals Wednesday, fire officials said. None of the firefighters reported any significant injuries.

Meanwhile, Los Angeles County firefighters responded to a wildfire Wednesday in Malibu, where authorities briefly closed the Pacific Coast Highway as flames burned near millions of dollars’ worth of property. Officials said two buildings burned in the 20-acre Broad Fire.

Santa Anas are dry, warm, gusty northeasterly winds that blow toward and offshore from the interior of Southern California, moving in the opposite direction of the normal overland flow that carries moist air from the Pacific into the region. They typically occur in the fall months and continue through the winter and into early spring.

With gusts exceeding 60 mph (97 km/h) and humidity as high as 9%, parts of Southern California could experience conditions that could lead to “extreme and life-threatening” fires through Thursday. Conditions will then calm down, the weather service said. A gust of 72 mph (116 km/h) was recorded early Thursday at an altitude of about 4,800 feet (1,463 meters) near Santa Clarita, north of Los Angeles, the service said.

READ MORE: The Diablo and Santa Ana winds could sweep across California, increasing the risk of wildfires

Meteorologists also issued red flag warnings through Thursday from California’s central coast through the San Francisco Bay Area to counties to the north, where strong winds were also expected.

Utilities in California began shutting down their facilities amid high winds and extreme fire danger after a series of massive and deadly wildfires in recent years sparked by power lines and other infrastructure.

Power has been shut off to nearly 70,000 customers in five counties because of the increased risk of wildfires, Southern California Edison said Thursday. More than 250,000 customers are at risk of power outages due to the risk of wildfires, the company said.

Wednesday’s wildfires burned in the same areas as other recent devastating infernos, including the 2018 Woolsey Fire, which killed three people and destroyed 1,600 homes near Los Angeles, and the 2017 Thomas Fire, in which more than a thousand homes and other buildings burned in Ventura and surrounding Santa Barbara counties. Edison in Southern California has paid tens of millions of dollars to settle damages after its facilities were blamed for both fires.

Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press journalist Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; and Sarah Brumfield in Washington, DC, contributed to this report.