Ventura County's Mountain Fire leaves trail of devastation with 20,000 acres burned as firefight continues
Tearing through more than 20,000 acres, with flames carried by powerful Santa Ana winds, the Mountain Fire has injured multiple people and destroyed 132 structures — most of them homes in Ventura County neighborhoods.
After surveying the damage, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an emergency proclamation Thursday to help crews extinguish the Southern California wildfire. Since it broke out Wednesday morning, the roughly 32-square-mile blaze has sent thousands fleeing from their homes, damaging 88 structures in addition to the 132 destroyed, authorities said during a Thursday news conference.
By Saturday morning, it was estimated at 20,630 acres and 21% contained, according to the Ventura County Fire Department, as containment inched upward amid improving weather conditions including much lighter winds and increased humidity. About 2,420 firefighters and first responders are battling the fire, fire officials said.
It first sparked Wednesday at about 8:50 a.m. on South Mountain in the Moorpark area, near Balcom Canyon Road and Bradley Road in Somis, officials said. Within five hours, the wildfire exploded to more than 10,000 acres, reaching 14,000 acres by that evening before continuing to burn through thousands more acres in the following days.
"It's just extraordinary how quickly this fire moved — how large it's gotten now," Newsom said, standing near some of the wreckage during his visit to Ventura County Thursday. He said the state is "putting every resource we possibly can" toward firefighting efforts.
On Saturday, authorities said some previously evacuated areas were being repopulated as progress was made amid some remaining obstacles.
"Decreasing winds continue to assist crews with their aggressive fire attack," reads a Saturday morning update from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. "Terrain in some areas continue to be a challenge. Threats remain to critical infrastructure, highways and communities, while active fire continues to burn within islands of unburned fuel."
Meanwhile, many mandatory evacuations orders remain in effect. They were expanded throughout Wednesday, with Santa Paula, Camarillo, Somis and the Moorpark area among the communities forced to flee as the blaze grew.
"We know this is a painful time, and our hearts go out to each and every one of you," Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said Thursday, addressing evacuees and others affected by the fire. "The fire danger remains extremely high."
Newsom said more than 10,000 people were evacuated as the fire threatened 3,500 homes, businesses and other structures. Fryhoff said at least 14,000 people were told to evacuate.
Earlier this week, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued funding to aid the firefighting efforts.
"We initially engaged in structure defense, life-safety operations and performing nothing short of heroic actions across the incident," Ventura County Fire Captain Trevor Johnson said.
The blaze moved toward the southwest over Wednesday and into Thursday, as helicopters continued making water drops throughout the entire night, Johnson said, describing that as "irregular for any wildland incident." With improved conditions on Saturday, all evacuation orders that were previously in place were downgraded to warnings, allowing residents to return.
A day earlier, fire officials said they were focused on certain areas where the weather and terrain was creating obstacles.
"Our priority on the fire right now is on the northeast side of the fire, that's north of the community of Somis, and south of the community of Santa Paula on the Santa Susana Mountain range there," Johnson said. "The fire there is in a tricky place."
Several environmental factors came together to spark the blaze and rapidly send it through thousands of acres, including plenty of dry brush built up through especially wet weather for the region combined with powerful Santa Ana winds, according to Drew Smith, fire behavior analyst with the Los Angeles County Fire Department.
"We're coming off of two years of above-average rainfall, which gives us a very robust grass component," Smith said. "And those fine fuels that are receptive to warm, dry, windy (weather) supports the recipe to support large fire growth when we have high winds."
"So when we have that environmental recipe, if you will, to promote this — it's because of the receptive fuel bed," he said, adding that strong winds can then carry embers up to three miles and lead to the "that large fire growth."
Homes destroyed, people injured as they flee
Ten people have been wounded by the wildfire, most of them suffering from smoke inhalation, Ventura County authorities said during a Thursday news conference. Meanwhile, Cal Fire has said there were at least six injuries among civilians and firefighters.
Earlier in the week, authorities said two people had to be hospitalized after being injured.
At an overnight shelter in Camarillo, American Red Cross spokesman David Wagner said nurses at the shelter treated people with scrapes and minor burns they suffered while trying to escape the flames. The shelter provided families with beds and meals as they remained evacuated overnight.
Damage inspection teams have still been sorting through the wreckage Friday to determine just how many homes were destroyed.
Several evacuees have spoken about trying to help friends, family members and neighbors flee the spreading blaze as it tore through areas of Camarillo, Moorpark and Somis. Dozens of schools announced closures, thousands faced power shutoffs and the city of Ventura asked residents to limit their water use so firefighters have enough to battle the blaze.
"Our No. 1 priority here at Ventura County Fire, in running this incident, is life safety," firefighter and Ventura County Fire spokesperson Andrew Dowd said Wednesday. "And we're urging all residents that are in the affected areas to make sure that they're heeding evacuation orders. That's our No. 1 priority."
Wind gusts in the Mountain Fire area reached 39 mph in both Moorpark and Simi Valley Thursday morning, with a high wind warning expected to stay in effect until 4 p.m., when winds are forecasted to die down to about 15 mph.
Evacuation orders
The Ventura County Sheriff's Office issued evacuation orders for thousands of residents in Camarillo, Somis and near the Santa Clara River. As the blaze continued to burn in a southerly direction Thursday morning, evacuation orders in the Camarillo area, including near the Las Posas Country Club and Sterling Hills Golf Club, were in place given the fire's path.
"All evacuation orders and warnings remain in place due to the extreme fire danger," officials said in a Thursday morning update.
A real-time map of evacuation orders can be found here.
"If you're in the fire impact area, if you're smelling smoke, you should be prepared to go," Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said. He also cautioned residents against trying to stay behind to protect their homes.
"We see it over and over and over. People have the best intentions to stay and defend their home right up until the time the fire hits their home," Gardner said. "And it gets hot, and it gets smoky, and you can't see, you can't breathe, and you sure as hell can't defend your home. And then you're stuck... You can replace your stuff. You can't replace your family members."
Authorities have established an evacuation center at Padre Serra Parish, located at 5205 Upland Road in Camarillo.
Homeowners with large pets were advised to drop their animals off at the Ventura County Fairgrounds, located at 10 E. Harbor Boulevard, while small pets can be brought to the Ventura County Animal Shelter near the Camarillo Airport, located at 600 Aviation Drive.
School closures
Dozens of Ventura County schools closed due to the Mountain Fire, some campuses closing because of poor air quality due to the massive wildfire and some due to power shutoffs issued by utilities trying to avoid further wildfire risks.
Some schools were taking precautions such as keeping students indoors at campuses that remain open but are seeing widespread smoke and ash in the air.
"Our hearts break for our Camarillo families that have lost their homes," the Pleasant Valley School District said while announcing closures. "We know that our students have been impacted by the events of the day. When we return to school, all schools will have plans to support the mental health needs of our students."
Following widespread school closures after the fire started Wednesday, the Ventura County Office of Education announced most campuses in the county were expected to reopen Tuesday, Nov. 12 following Veterans Day, which is a school holiday.
Road closures
On Saturday, the following road closures were in place, according to Cal Fire.
Ventura County Sheriff Jurisdiction:
- Crestview Northbound at Bella Vista
- Las Posas Northbound at Lewis
- Aprisa Northbound at Ponderosa
- Waters Road from Stockton
California Highway Patrol Jurisdiction:
- Santa Clara Eastbound from the 118
- Balcom Westbound from the 118
- Center School Road at the 118
Santa Paula Police Jurisdiction:
- 12th Street southbound from Highway 126
Ventura County Public Works Jurisdiction:
- East Road from Posita Road to Stockton Road
- Posita Road from Balcom Canyon Road to East Road
- Shekell Road from Broadway Road o CA-23
- Central Avenue from Rose Avenue to Santa Clara Avenue
- Valley Vista Drive from Fairway Drive to Crestview Drive
- Fairway Drive from Fairway Court to Valley Vista Drive
- Center School Road from CA-118 to Fairway Drive
- Clubhouse Drive from Los Angeles Avenue to Northridge Drive
- La Cumbre Road from CA-118 to Donlon Road
- Donlon Road from CA-118 to Bradley Road
- Stockton Road from Balcom Canyon Road to Grimes Canyon Road
- La Vista Avenue from CA-118 to W. La Loma Avenue
- Price Road from CA-118 to E. La Loma Avenue
- Aggen Road from CA-118 to La Loma Road
- Berylwood Road from Bradley Road to Aggen Road
- Bradley Road from Old Balcom Canyon Road to Berylwood Road
Powerful Santa Ana winds fuel flames
The fire comes in the midst of severe winds battering much of Southern California, which prompted National Weather Service officials to issue Red Flag Warnings. In this instance, they issued a "Particularly Dangerous Situation" alert, a rare weather advisory that forecasters say is issued only once every few years due to especially severe conditions.
Meteorologists tracked some gusts blowing more than 60 miles per hour as the fire burned Wednesday. Winds subsided Thursday, with gusts in the area expected to be around 30 miles per hour until around noon, when they are expected to lighten.
Rich Thompson, incident meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said some of the severe Red Flag conditions had improved by Thursday, although Santa Ana winds could continue to gust from the northeast at about 25 to 35 mph in the afternoon.
"This morning, those conditions have moderated a little bit, so now we just have a normal Red Flag warning in effect for the area," Thompson said, adding that especially low humidity will continue through the day while winds will die down later into the afternoon.
Strong winds grounded firefighting fixed-wing aircraft within the first hours of the wildfire, adding another hurdle toward full containment, fire officials said.
According to Dr. Josh Fisher, a climate scientist at Chapman University, many factors came together to result in the wildfire moving quickly as it tore up hillsides, moving upwards as it burned through Ventura County neighborhoods.
"That fire will spread faster up just because fire moves upwards," Fisher said. "So, we've got these conditions of the topography, the wind and the plants — and also close to roads and human property — all just kind of coming together to make this a lot worse than it could've been if the winds were calm, the vegetation was wet."
Friday, wind gusts will relax more. The National Weather Service forecasts north, northeast wind gusts at 5 to 10 mph in the morning and south, southwest gusts in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 15 mph, an improvement from winds that fueled the fire Wednesday and Thursday.
The cause of the blaze remains under investigation, authorities said.
Residents react
With the dynamic situation, flames decimating hundreds of acres of vegetation within just a few hours, residents were forced to jump into action to evacuate their homes.
"We've never seen anything like this before. Never thought anything like this would happen to us," said Ken Levin, who lives in a home adjacent to the Spanish Hills area. "But fire department is out there. They're bulldozing fire breaks on the back of our property and the wind is going south. So, we feel good about where we are... I think we're gonna be okay."
"Thank God for our firefighters that are here to help us when we need it," he said.
In Camarillo, a woman who went to help her friend evacuate scrambled to get her out. "She was so rattled. She couldn't really tell me what all to get, and I was rattled," Cindi Hitt said. "Then, I realized I couldn't stay there any longer. It was just time to go."
But Hitt nearly wasn't able to escape, she said, as her car got stuck just as she tried to drive off.
"My car got stuck right next to where the flames were," she said. "The firemen were right there. They were so helpful."
The firefighters managed to get her car moving so she and her friend could escape. She urged others in the area to leave as fast as possible. "It was very scary. All I can tell you is... Do not wait," Hitt said.
