Thousands ordered to evacuate as wildfire burns homes in Southern California

California was battered by strong winds Wednesday that fueled a fast-moving wildfire that destroyed dozens of homes and forced thousands of residents to flee as forecasters warned of the potential for “extreme and life-threatening” fires.

A mountain fire northwest of Los Angeles grew and prompted evacuation orders for more than 10,000 people as it threatened 3,500 structures in suburban communities, ranches and agricultural areas around Camarillo, Gov. Gavin Newsom said. The area east of the Pacific Coast city of Ventura will receive federal aid after Newsom’s request is granted, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday.

The fire was raging in a region that has seen some of California’s most destructive fires in recent years. A thick plume of smoke rose hundreds of feet into the sky Wednesday, blanketing entire neighborhoods and limiting visibility for firefighters and evacuees. The fire grew from less than half a square mile to 16 square miles in a little more than five hours.

Ventura County Fire Capt. Trevor Johnson said crews raced their engines to homes threatened by the flames to save lives.

“This is as intense as it gets. “I’m sure the hair on the firefighters’ necks stood on end,” he said during a news conference Wednesday afternoon.

In one place, flames licked the burning ruins of a house. Its roof was reduced to just a few burnt tiles.

Two people apparently suffered smoke inhalation and were taken to hospitals, firefighters said. None of the firefighters reported serious injuries.

Unstable winds and limited visibility grounded the planes, with wind gusts reaching 61 mph (98 kph), weather service meteorologist Brian Lewis said. Helicopters dropping water were still flying.

Rescuers asked residents to evacuate. Deputies contacted 14,000 people to urge them to leave as embers spread up to 2.5 miles and sparked new flames.

“The fire is moving dangerously fast,” Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said.

Aerial footage from local TV channels showed dozens of houses burning in several areas, with embers being carried from house to house. Other footage showed horses trotting alongside recovery vehicles.

Jade Katz, who said she is disabled and does not drive, waited for a friend to pick her up near her Camarillo Heights home with a suitcase full of medications and Bella, her Great Dane service dog. But the friend couldn’t reach her, so first responders sent a police car to escort her out Wednesday afternoon when a helicopter rained water on the house across the street from hers.

“There were five or eight houses on the way out of the neighborhood that had already burned to the ground,” said Katz, 35, who was sitting in a car with housemate Shannon Kelly, 28. They plan to spend the night with a friend in Los Angeles.

Officials said they used all resources, including helicopters dropping water and planes dropping fire retardant, but the fire was still out of control Wednesday afternoon. Andrew Dowd, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department, said he did not have details on how many structures were damaged.

Gus Garcia, who owns a ranch south of the fire, said he is waiting to see if conditions change to decide whether he should evacuate his horses and livestock. Around 12:30 p.m., his animals were still safe and he tried to stay away while others brought out their livestock.

His ranch is surrounded by other people with horses and alpacas, and Garcia said his neighbors in the canyon didn’t seem to panic.

“The horse community is preparing for this because there is always opportunity here,” he said.

Meanwhile, in the south, Los Angeles County fire crews struggled to contain a wildfire near Broad Beach in Malibu as authorities briefly closed the Pacific Coast Highway as flames broke out near multimillion-dollar properties. Residents were asked to shelter in place while the plane dropped water on the 50-acre Broad Fire. Around 12:30 it was 15% contained and forward movement stopped. Firefighters reported that two buildings burned down.

The National Weather Service office in the Los Angeles area added a rare “particularly hazardous situation” designation to its red flag warning of increased fire danger, and officials in several counties urged residents to be on alert for fast-moving fires, power outages and people killed. trees amid yet another blast of the notorious Santa Ana wind.

With forecast wind gusts of 50 to 100 mph and humidity levels as low as 8%, parts of Southern California could have conditions ripe for an “extreme and life-threatening” fire on Thursday, the weather service said.

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

Utilities in California have begun shutting down equipment during high winds and extreme fire dangers after a series of large and deadly wildfires were sparked by power lines and other infrastructure in recent years. On Wednesday, more than 65,000 customers in Southern California remained without power as a precaution and more than 20,000 in Northern California.

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