Firefighters in Southern California are making progress in battling wildfires as heavy winds begin to subside

CAMARILLO, Calif. – Southern California firefighters have made progress battling a wildfire that has destroyed 132 buildings, mostly homes, and was sparked by heavy gusts of wind that began to ease on Friday, allowing some people to return to search the charred remains of their homes.

Joey Parish returned to the site of his former home of more than 20 years in Camarillo Heights. All that remained was part of the burned-out steel frame.

“It’s tough, it’s really tough to know how to process the emotions,” he told KNBC-TV late Thursday. He had been evacuated with his wife and their 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, and not even a charger, and not a toothbrush – nothing.”

The mountain fire started Wednesday morning in Ventura County and had grown to 32 square miles (about 83 square kilometers). By Friday morning, 7% were under control.

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

In addition to the 132 destroyed, at least 88 additional structures were damaged. Officials did not indicate whether they were 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 with support from water-dropping helicopters focused on protecting homes on hills along the northeastern edge of the fire near the city of Santa Paula, home to more than 30,000 people, county fire officials said.

Officials in several Southern California counties have urged Southern California residents to be on the lookout for fast-spreading fires, power outages and downed trees in the latest round of blazes. infamous Santa Ana winds.

Santa Anas are dry, warm and gusty northeasterly winds that blow from inland Southern California toward the coast and offshore, moving in the opposite direction of the normal onshore current that carries moist air from the Pacific Ocean. They usually occur during the fall months and continue through the winter and into 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 Friday, but forecasters said temperatures would rise, reaching highs in the upper 80s, the National Weather Service said.

The Santa Anas are expected to return early to mid-week next week, said Ariel Cohen, meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard,

Due to the smoke from the forest fires, an air quality warning due to harmful particulate matter pollution was in force from Friday morning to Saturday afternoon.

More than a dozen school districts and campuses in Ventura County were closed Friday due to the impact of the fires, the county’s Office of Education said.

The Mountain Fire raged 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 on Wednesday.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency in Ventura County.

California Utilities started turning off equipment in strong winds and extreme fire hazard after a series of massive and deadly wildfires in recent years were caused by power lines and other infrastructure.

Power was shut off to nearly 70,000 customers in five provinces due to the increased risk. Southern California Edison said Thursday. Company spokesperson Gabriela Ornelas could not immediately answer whether power had been turned off in the area where the mountain fire started.

The wildfires raged in the same areas as other recent devastating infernos, including 2018 Woolsey firethat 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.