CAMARILLO, California — Southern California firefighters made progress against a wildfire that destroyed 132 structures, mostly homes, and was fueled by strong gusts of wind that began to ease on Friday, allowing some people to return to survey the charred remains of their homes.

Joey Parish returned to the site of his former home of more than 20 years in Camarillo Heights. The only thing that remained was part of the burned steel structure.

“It’s hard, it’s really hard to know how to process emotions,” he told KNBC-TV Thursday night. He had evacuated with his wife and cat. “Neither of us has been able to cry yet,” he said.

“What I have on my back is what I came out with,” he said. “My cell phone, not even a charger, not a toothbrush, nothing.”

The mountain fire started Wednesday morning in Ventura County and had grown to 32 square miles (approximately 83 square kilometers). It was 7% contained Friday morning.

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

At least 88 additional structures were damaged in addition to the 132 destroyed. Authorities did not specify whether they had been burned or affected by water or smoke damage. The cause of the fire has not been determined.

Ten people suffered smoke inhalation or other non-life-threatening injuries, Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff said.

Crews working in steep terrain supported by water-dropping helicopters were focused on protecting homes on hillsides along the northeast edge of the fire near the city of Santa Paula, home to more than 30,000 people, fire officials said. county firefighters.

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.

The Santa Anas are dry, warm, gusty northeasterly winds that blow from inland Southern California toward the coast and offshore, moving in the opposite direction to the normal onshore flow that carries moist air from the Pacific. They typically occur during the fall months and continue through the winter and early spring.

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

Winds were already easing early Friday, but forecasters said temperatures would rise, reaching highs in the 80s, the National Weather Service said.

Santa Ana is expected to return early to mid-next week, said Ariel Cohen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard.

An air quality alert for harmful fine particle pollution was in effect from Friday morning to Saturday afternoon due to smoke from the wildfires.

According to the county Office of Education, more than a dozen school districts and campuses in Ventura County closed Friday due to impacts from the fires.

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.

Governor Gavin Newsom has proclaimed a state of emergency in Ventura County.

California Public Services started to turn off the computer 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 was shut off to nearly 70,000 customers in five counties due to the increased risk. Southern California Edison he said Thursday. Company spokesperson Gabriela Ornelas could not immediately answer whether the power supply had been cut off in the area where the mountain 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.

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Weber reported from Los Angeles. Jaimie Ding and Stefanie Dazio in Los Angeles, Ethan Swope in Camarillo, Eugene Garcia in Santa Paula and Amy Taxin in Orange County, California, Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire, Sarah Brumfield in Washington, DC and Hannah Schoenbaum in Salt Lake City. contributed.