Camarillo church becomes overnight shelter for families forced to flee their homes

A Camarillo church has become an overnight shelter for Ventura County families evacuated in the Mountain Fire, providing meals, medical care and a place to sleep for those forced to flee their homes Wednesday.

With mandatory evacuations remaining in place, the American Red Cross and Ventura County Human Services Agency established the shelter at Padre Serra Parish, a Catholic church located at 5205 Upland Road in Camarillo. It initially was a temporary shelter, just a check-in point for people to find information and emergency resources, but has become a shelter that will stay open through the night. All disaster assistance offered there is free to those who have been evacuated.

"Now, we're transitioning to a shelter, an overnight shelter. We have a team setting up cots so they'll have a place to sleep," said David Wagner, a spokesman for the American Red Cross. "We have the Salvation Army cooking meals for us. We'll have dinner tonight, breakfast tomorrow — meals as long as they need it here."

Wagner said nurses at the shelter have treated people who suffered scrapes and minor burns as they fled the wildfire, which exploded to 10,000 acres within five hours before spreading even further to more than 14,000 acres by 7:30 p.m. 

Homes were destroyed as people escaped the flames, with firefighters carrying out rescue efforts through the day.

"This morning we had knocks pounding on our door to get out," said a woman at the shelter who fled her Las Posas Estates home with her husband. "The fire, at that time, made it difficult to get out because it's less than a 1,000 feet from us, and we kept trying to find our way out through the smoke."

"And there was fires on the side of the road, and in front of us, and we kept going in circles," she said. "And we finally got out."

Another woman, who lives at a mobile home park for seniors near Spanish Hills, said the park's manager told her they could leave together. "You know, I don't have anybody to go to because all my family lives in New York," she said. 

Several evacuees spoke about trying to help friends, family members and neighbors flee.

"It moved very suddenly into our neighborhood," another Ventura County resident at the shelter said of the wildfire. "The kids were still at school so I packed a bag for each of the kids. We got one of our neighbors, who lives alone by herself, out. And we headed to the evacuation center."

Dozens of schools announced closures, thousands of residents faced power shutoffs and the city of Ventura asked residents to limit their water use so firefighters have enough to battle the blaze.

Meanwhile, the shelter will continue assisting evacuees as they are eventually allowed to return home, Wagner said.

"We'll be here to help them recover, get back on their feet and get back in their homes," he said.

The Red Cross released a statement saying the shelter will offer water, meals, snacks, health services and other resources.

"We encourage anyone who needs assistance to come to the shelter, and residents in nearby areas to be ready to evacuate," the statement says.