A fast-moving wildfire erupted in Southern California on Wednesday, destroying homes and sending firefighters rushing to get residents out of homes and to safety, officials said.
The Mountain Fire in Ventura County prompted evacuation orders and grew to over 14,000 acres, fueled by what fire officials called a significant Santa Ana wind event.
Firefighters at the scene of the brush fire, which broke out between the communities of Moorpark and Somis, “were faced with a tough firefight,” Ventura County Fire Capt. Trevor Johnson said.
“Firefighters were right off the bat engaged in pulling people out of their houses and saving lives,” Johnson said.
The fire was moving so fast that firefighters drove residents out of the area in fire engines because of the danger, he said.
The fire department did not have a count for the number of destroyed structures.
The fire began at 8:51 a.m. local time, said the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire. It was 0% contained Wednesday afternoon, and what sparked it was under investigation.
High winds prevented fixed-wing aircraft from helping fight the flames, the Ventura County Fire Department said.
A spokesperson for the fire department said several people were injured and taken to hospitals. The fire was affecting the Camarillo Heights area near Camarillo, the department said.
News helicopter video showed homes destroyed in a residential neighborhood and firefighters trying to put out the flames at another. Other homes were burning across a large area, the video showed, and fires continued to burn Wednesday night.
A retired firefighter who lives in Camarillo Heights and his two sons were using fire hoses to wet their property and stop spot fires caused by embers carried by the strong winds.
“Hell” is how he described the day in a live interview with NBC Los Angeles at the scene. “Since it started this morning, it’s been nonstop. We’re just chasing flames. The wind direction has just been swirling.”
The fire jumped State Route 118, and part of it was closed because of fire on both sides of the freeway, the California Transportation Department said. The highway was closed from Santa Clara Avenue to Tierra Rejada Road.
Smoke was also limiting visibility and slowing traffic on the busy U.S. 101 freeway, south of the state route, the department said on X.
High winds caused spot fires to ignite 2½ miles away in front of the site of the original blaze, Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said.
"Bushes are burning, grass is burning, hedgerows are burning, agricultural fields are burning, and structures are burning,” Gardner said. “This fire is moving dangerously fast.”
Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff said officials made over 14,000 contacts to people in the community because of the fire, and he urged people to stay out of the area.
Johnson, of the Ventura County Fire Department, said at a news conference that he did not have details about injuries but that the blaze is challenging for firefighters.
“Everything is dangerous out there,” he said. “Driving — they can’t see 5 feet in front of their engine — operating in and around power lines, gas lines that are on fire.”
It was too dangerous to send fire inspectors to determine the scope of the destruction Wednesday, the fire department said, but officials expected a count of structures lost by Thursday.
Cal Fire, which has activated an incident management team to the Mountain Fire, said on its website that the fire had burned 14,148 acres as of late Wednesday.
The National Weather Service said high winds gusting to around 60 mph were creating extreme fire risk Wednesday. A gust around the fire area was recorded at 54 mph, it said.
A camera from the University of California San Diego public safety program ALERTCalifornia showed the fire's spread.
Steve Taylor lost his home in Camarillo, a city of around 74,000, in the fire.
“We’re shocked at the devastation. We’re not the only family that has suffered tremendous losses,” he told NBC Los Angeles. “It’s just stuff. But it’s the stuff that the memories are made out of.”
In Malibu, closer to Los Angeles, another wildfire broke out Wednesday and prompted a shelter-in-place order that was later lifted.
The Broad Fire burned around 33 acres, but its forward progress was stopped and firefighters were mopping up late Wednesday afternoon, Malibu’s city government said.
There were no injuries, but three homes were damaged in the fire, which began at around 9 a.m. near Pacific Coast Highway, Mayor Doug Stewart said.
Santa Ana winds are a California weather phenomenon that happens when air from desert areas flows toward the coast from east to west and is channeled through the mountains.
The airport in Camarillo recorded a gust of 64 mph Wednesday, part of the western Santa Monica Mountains recorded a gust of 76 mph, and there were gusts of 73 mph and 85 mph in the San Gabriel Mountains, the National Weather Service said.
