A fast-moving wildfire broke out across more than 14,000 acres on Wednesday, prompting evacuations and a red flag warning from the National Weather Service/.

Ventura County remains under an “extremely critical” wildfire warning as firefighters fight to gain the upper hand on the Mountain Fire, which is currently 0% contained.

At least two people have been taken to hospitals for smoke inhalation, Ventura County Fire Chief Justin Gardner said during a news conference Wednesday night.

According to Gardner, an accurate damage figure is expected on Thursday, as the area remains too dangerous to fully assess the damage.

At least 14,000 people were ordered to evacuate, Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said.

The Mountain Fire is one of two wind-driven fires that broke out in Southern California, prompting the NWS to issue a rare red flag warning for Los Angeles and Ventura counties alerting of a “risk of extreme fire” from Malibu to the San Gabriel Mountains. north of Los Angeles, where winds could gust up to 100 mph.

“A very strong, widespread, long-lived Santa Ana wind event will bring extremely critical fire weather conditions to many areas of Los Angeles and Ventura counties Wednesday through Thursday,” according to the NWS warning.

As of Wednesday, at least two fires caused by wind had already broken out in Southern California.

mountain fire

The rapidly burning Mountain Fire in Ventura County has spread to more than 14,000 acres, prompting evacuation orders, threatening structures and leaving several people injured, according to local fire officials.

“We know we’ve lost homes, we know we’ve suffered damage and we know injuries, but I don’t have any counts,” public information officer Scott Dettorre told ABC News.

“The injuries that we know of are civilians, we do not have any firefighters injured at this time,” Dettorre said.

Due to extreme wind conditions, fixed-wing aircraft are unable to assist in firefighting efforts, according to the Ventura Fire Department, which said ground crews, helicopters and mutual aid resources are ” actively working to protect lives and property.”

Evacuation orders are in effect for Walnut Ave to Balcom Canyon Road and North Highway 118 to the crest and west to Saticoy County Club in Ventura County, according to CAL Fire.

Wide fire

A second wildfire broke out Wednesday in the Malibu area of ​​Los Angeles County, called the Broad Fire, and has burned at least 50 acres southwest of South Malibu Canyon Road and Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) in Malibu, according to CAL Fire.

Local firefighters warned residents to prepare for possible evacuations and the PCH was closed in both directions between Webb Way and Corral Canyon.

Wind conditions in Santa Ana

The region’s Santa Ana winds, named after the Santa Ana Canyon in Southern California, bring blustery, dry, hot winds blowing in from the desert, drying out vegetation and increasing the danger of wildfires.

The long-duration Santa Ana wind event will peak on Wednesday, become moderate on Thursday, and then taper off to light offshore winds on Friday.

Northeast winds of 20 to 40 mph with gusts up to 60 mph are expected in the canyons and passes of Southern California through Wednesday, with stronger winds in more wind-prone areas.

Another wind surge is expected to peak Wednesday night into Thursday morning with widespread northeasterly winds at 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph before weakening significantly Thursday afternoon.