CAMARILLO, CALIFORNIA USA — Southern California fire departments have made progress in fighting a wildfire that has destroyed 132 structures, mostly homes, and was fanned by strong gusts of wind that began to subside on Friday, allowing some people to return to explore the charred remains of their houses.
Joey Parish returned to his home of more than 20 years in Camarillo Heights. All that remained was part of the burned steel frame.
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Flames engulf a home on Old Coach Drive in Camarillo during the Mountain fire, Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024, near Camarillo. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
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Camarillo, CA – November 06: Firefighters fight a Santa Ana wind-driven fire in the hills above Camarillo Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Camarillo, CA. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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Camarillo, CA – November 06: Firefighter fight a Santa Ana wind-driven fire on Highland Dr. on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Camarillo, CA. (Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)
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CAMARILLO, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 06: Fire fighters battle a fire near a house near North Loop drive after brush fire named the Mountain Fire burned hundreds of acres on Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2024 in Camarillo. (Jennifer Osborne / For the Times)
“It’s hard, really hard to know how to process emotions,” he told KNBC-TV Thursday night. He had evacuated with his wife and cat. “Neither of us has been able to cry yet,” he said.
“I came out with what I’m wearing,” he said. “My cell phone, and not even a charger, or a toothbrush — nothing.”
The Mountain Fire began Wednesday morning in Ventura County and had grown to about 32 square miles (83 square kilometers). It had been contained at 7% on Friday morning.
video-enhancement-title">A home burns along Old Coach Drive in Camarillo during the Mountain fire. (Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
About 10,000 people remained under evacuation orders Friday morning as the fire continued to threaten about 3,500 structures in suburban neighborhoods, ranches and agricultural areas around Camarillo, Ventura County.
At least 88 more structures were damaged, in addition to the 132 destroyed. Authorities did not specify whether they had burned or been affected by water or smoke. The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.
Ten people suffered smoke inhalation disorders or other non-life-threatening injuries, Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff said.
Crews working in steep terrain with support from water-dropping helicopters were focused on protecting homes on the slopes on the northeast edge of the fire, near the city of Santa Paula, home to more than 30,000 people, county firefighters said.
Authorities in several Southern California counties urged residents to be alert for fast-spreading fires, power outages and downed trees during the latest round of the famous Santa Ana winds.
The Santa Ana winds are dry, warm, gusty northeasterly winds that blow from the interior of Southern California toward the coast and offshore, moving in the opposite direction to the normal onshore flow that brings moist air from the Pacific. They generally occur in the fall months and continue through the winter and into early spring.
Red alerts, which indicate high fire danger conditions, have expired in the area except in the Santa Susana Mountains, where the warnings will expire at 11 a.m. Friday.
Winds were already decreasing early Friday, but forecasters said temperatures would rise, reaching highs near 80°F (27°C), the National Weather Service said.
Santa Ana winds are expected to return early to mid-next week, said Ariel Cohen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.
An air quality alert for harmful fine particle pollution has been put in place and will be in effect from Friday morning to Saturday afternoon, due to smoke from the wildfires.
More than a dozen school districts and campuses in Ventura County closed Friday due to the impact of the fires, according to the county Office of Education.
The Mountain Fire was burning in a region where some of California’s most destructive fires have erupted over the years. The fire grew rapidly Wednesday, from about 1.2 square kilometers (less than half a square mile) to more than 41 square kilometers (16 square miles) in just over five hours.
Governor Gavin Newsom has proclaimed a state of emergency in Ventura County.
California utilities have begun shutting down some of their equipment in the face of high wind gusts and extreme fire danger as power lines and other infrastructure sparked a series of huge, deadly wildfires in recent years.
Power was shut off to nearly 70,000 customers in five counties due to the high risk, Southern California Edison said Thursday. Gabriela Ornelas, a company spokeswoman, could not immediately answer whether power had been cut in the area where the Mountain fire started.
The wildfires 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 burned more than thousand homes and other structures in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Southern California Edison has paid tens of millions of dollars to settle claims that its equipment was blamed for both fires.
