CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — A wildfire in Southern California destroyed 132 structures, mostly homes, in less than two days, fire officials said Thursday. furious winds were predicted to decline.

The fire started Wednesday morning in Ventura County and has grown to about 32 square miles (83 square kilometers) with 5% containment. Its cause has not been determined.

Ten people were injured over the course of the fire, Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff said. Most of them suffered from smoke inhalation or other non-life-threatening injuries.

Firefighters said another 88 structures were damaged, but did not specify whether they had been burned or affected by water or smoke damage.

About 10,000 people remained under evacuation orders Thursday as the Mountain Fire continued to threaten about 3,500 structures in suburban neighborhoods, ranches and agricultural areas around Camarillo in Ventura County.

County firefighters said crews working in steep terrain with the support of water-dropping helicopters were focused on protecting homes on hillsides along the northeast edge of the fire near the city of Santa Paula, where more than 30,000 people.

Kelly Barton watched as firefighters sifted through the charred rubble of her parents’ ranch of 20 years in the hills of Camarillo overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Crews discovered two safes and his parents’ collection of antique door knockers intact among the devastation.

“This was his retirement home forever,” Barton said Thursday. “Now that they are 70 years old, they have to start over.”

His father returned to the house an hour after evacuating on Wednesday and found it already destroyed. He was able to move four of his vintage cars to safety, but two, including a Chevy Nova he had owned since he was 18, burned to a “toast,” Barton said.

Officials in several Southern California counties urged residents to be on the lookout for rapidly spreading fires, power outages and downed trees during the latest round of notorious Santa Ana winds.

Santa Ana are dry, warm, gusty northeast winds that blow from inland Southern California toward the coast and out to sea, moving in the opposite direction to the normal overland flow that transports moist air from the Pacific. They typically occur during the fall months and continue through the winter and early spring.

Ariel Cohen, meteorologist in charge at the National Weather Service in Oxnard, said Santa Ana winds were easing at lower elevations but remained gusty at higher elevations Thursday night.

Red flag warnings, which indicate high fire danger conditions, have expired in the area except in the Santa Susana Mountains, Cohen said. The warnings will expire at 11 a.m. Friday in the mountains.

Santa Ana winds are expected to return early to mid-next week, Cohen added.

The Mountain Fire was burning in a region that has seen some of California’s most destructive fires over the years. The fire quickly grew from less than half a square mile (about 1.2 square kilometers) to more than 16 square miles (41 square kilometers) in just over five hours Wednesday. By Thursday night, about 32 square miles (83 square kilometers) had been mapped and Gov. Gavin Newsom had proclaimed a state of emergency in the county.

Marcus Eriksen, who has a farm in Santa Paula, said firefighters kept embers from spreading to his home, vehicles and other structures, even as piles of compost and wood chips were engulfed.

The flames were up to 30 feet (9 meters) high and moving quickly, Eriksen said Thursday. His speed and ferocity overwhelmed him, but firefighters continued to fight to save everything they could on his property. Thanks to his work, “we dodged a bullet in a big way,” he said.

Sharon Boggie said the fire broke out 200 feet (60 meters) from her home in Santa Paula.

“We thought we were going to lose him at 7:00 in the morning,” Boggie said Thursday as white smoke billowed through the neighborhood. He initially fled with his two dogs, while his sister and nephew stayed behind. Hours later the situation seemed to improve, he said.

The Ventura County Office of Education announced that more than a dozen school districts and campuses in the county were closed Thursday, with some expected to close Friday.

Utility companies in California began shutting down equipment during strong winds and extreme fire hazard after a series of massive and deadly wildfires in recent years sparked by power lines and other infrastructure.

Power shut off to nearly 70,000 customers in five counties due to increased risk, Southern California Edison said Thursday. Gabriela Ornelas, a spokeswoman for Edison, could not immediately answer whether power had been cut in the area where the Montaña fire broke out.

The wildfires burned in the same areas as other recent destructive infernos, including the one in 2018. wool firewhich killed three people and destroyed 1,600 homes near Los Angeles, and the 2017 Thomas fire, which burned more than a thousand homes and other structures in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties. Southern California Edison has paid tens of millions of dollars to settle claims after its equipment was blamed for both fires.

___

Weber reported from Los Angeles. Jaimie Ding and Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles; Ethan Swope in Camarillo; Eugenio García in Santa Paula; Amy Taxin in Orange County; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; and Sarah Brumfield in Washington, DC, contributed to this report.

Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.