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    • Mountain Fire forces thousands to flee, destroys homes
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    Mountain Fire forces thousands to flee, destroys homes

    Sakege Posted on

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    A “dangerously fast-moving” wildfire exploded during a wind storm in Santa Ana on Wednesday morning, burning through miles of local hillsides, destroying homes and forcing thousands of people to flee as the fire spread to more than 14,000. acres.

    Santa Ana winds blew at more than 80 mph when the Mountain Fire broke out shortly before 9 a.m. in critically dry brush on South Mountain, near the 7900 block of Balcom Canyon Road in the Somis area.

    The hills, near the junction with Bixby Road, are surrounded by ranch-style properties. The fire spread west toward the foothills of Saticoy and south toward Highway 118, where it reached agricultural fields north of the highway.

    “Brushes are burning, grass is burning, hedgerows are burning, agricultural fields are burning and structures are burning,” Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said Wednesday. “This fire is moving dangerously fast.”

    Before noon, the fire had advanced approximately 2.5 miles across the 118th into the Camarillo Heights neighborhood, creating a separate fire island to the south in and around Camarillo. There, where large homes dot the hills around Spanish Hills Club, Sterling Hills Golf Club and Las Posas Country Club, flames were seen engulfing multiple residences.

    Fire crews were sent to homes to help those unable to evacuate as the flames approached. Some traffic signals were out, snarling traffic as residents tried to exit.

    “Firefighters began getting people out of their homes and saving lives,” said county fire Capt. Trevor Johnson, chief of operations on the fire.

    As of early Thursday morning, the fire had no containment and authorities had not yet revealed the number of structures damaged and destroyed. Two people were taken to a local hospital for smoke inhalation, the fire department reported.

    The cause of the fire remained under investigation as of Wednesday night.

    Evacuations ordered as flames move into neighborhoods

    Authorities issued evacuation orders Wednesday and early Thursday that affected thousands of residents.

    The boundaries as of Thursday morning included a strip from South Mountain Road, south of Santa Paula, to Balcom Canyon Road at 118 in Somis to the east. On the south side, the order extended to Highway 101 west of Central Avenue in and around Camarillo. The northwest corner included the rural Saticoy hills around the Saticoy Country Club.

    An evacuation warning also covered a sparsely populated section of South Mountain south of the Santa Clara River. An earlier evacuation notice had been lifted in east Ventura, around the intersection of Highway 126 and Wells Road.

    Firefighters from Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, Kern and Orange counties, as well as Cal Fire, responded to assist. Personnel from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and other law enforcement agencies also converged on the area to assist.

    “Every helicopter, every fixed-wing aircraft, everything we’ve been able to get is here fighting this fire,” Gardner said at a news conference. “It is spreading at a dangerous rate. This fire has been detected more than two and a half miles in front of itself.”

    He urged anyone who was told to leave to leave. This is not a fire where anyone can wait and see what happens, he said.

    As winds carried embers far ahead of the fire front, crews used everything from airborne infrared technology to firefighters standing on rooftops to detect any new beginnings.

    The fixed-wing planes were grounded from the beginning because wind conditions made launching retardants unfeasible, officials said. Subsequently some falls were possible.

    “We continue to look for opportunities to use that to our advantage,” Johnson said.

    Neighbors flee the fire

    A temporary evacuation area was set up in the Padre Serra parish in Camarillo. The Red Cross had a trailer carrying cots and food in case it was needed, said David Wagner, a spokesman for the organization.

    By noon, more than two dozen horses and a dozen goats had been evacuated to the Ventura County Fairgrounds. More were expected.

    Nancy Reeves was on a ranch in Somis about 2 miles from the fire. She thought she would stop by the property.

    “Then the wind changed and came right at us,” said Reeves, who brought nine horses to the fairgrounds.

    Livestock evacuations were coordinated by Ventura County Animal Services. A volunteer livestock rescue team has also been activated. Dogs, cats, rabbits and other small animals can be brought to the animal shelter on Aviation Drive in Camarillo.

    Schools close; air alert issued

    Schools across Ventura County closed Thursday due to the fire.

    Dozens of school districts and individual campuses, serving more than 70,000 students, had announced closures, according to a list compiled by the Ventura County Office of Education. Included in the list were campuses in Ventura, Santa Paula, Oxnard, Port Hueneme and Camarillo.

    Santa Paula Unified School District, Mesa Union School District and ACE Charter School also announced they would be closed Friday.

    Camarillo Heights Elementary School was evacuated shortly after noon and students were bused to Monte Vista Middle School, part of the Pleasant Valley School District. The district reported no injuries or property damage as of early afternoon.

    The Ventura County Air Pollution Control District issued an air quality alert as smoke entered Camarillo and Oxnard on Wednesday.

    Smoke and ash from wildfires can damage the heart and lungs, officials said. The agency recommended residents in those areas stay indoors as much as possible, close windows and doors and operate air conditioning units in homes and cars in recirculation mode.

    Authorities warn of dangerous conditions

    The National Weather Service issued a red flag warningtriggered when conditions could cause fires to ignite easily and spread rapidly.

    the agency categorized the warning as a “particularly dangerous situation” with humidity levels expected to drop and Santa Ana winds gusting up to 80 mph.

    While winds were expected to peak on Wednesday, conditions were expected to remain gusty and dry through Thursday. Humidity levels could fall back into the single digits. The red flag warning was expected to remain in effect Thursday.

    Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff asked the governor to proclaim a state of emergency, a move that could help areas qualify for disaster assistance.

    Edison cuts the power

    Thousands of local Southern California Edison customers were without power early Wednesday, outages designed to prevent electrical equipment from starting a fire.

    At Wednesday’s news conference, officials said it was not immediately clear if circuits were de-energized in the area when the Mountain fire started.

    Edison had warned that he planned to monitor dozens of local circuits and others throughout the region until Thursday and would cut the power in case of dangerous conditions

    Countywide, more than 90,000 customers were on circuits monitored for outages, with outages reported from Ventura to Simi Valley. As of early Thursday morning, the county Office of Emergency Services estimated that 14,000 people were still without power.

    Once an outage occurs, power will likely not continue as soon as the wind dies down, Edison officials said. Crews must patrol an area before restoring power and troubleshooting any problems.

    Officials urged residents to register for emergency alerts. To do this, go to readyventuracounty.org/vc-alert/. Updates on the Mountain Fire, evacuations and road closures are available at vcemergencia.com.

    Reporters Ernesto Centeno Araujo, Tom Kisken, Isaiah Murtaugh and Wes Woods II contributed to this report.

    Cheri Carlson covers the environment and county government for the Ventura County Star. Contact her at [email protected] or 805-437-0260.

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