Moorpark Fire Burns Thousands of Acres, Injures Several in Ventura County – WATCH LIVE

MOORPARK, California — California was battered Wednesday by powerful winds fueling a fast-moving wildfire that destroyed dozens of homes and forced thousands of residents to flee as forecasters warned of the possibility of “extreme and life-threatening” fires.

Located northwest of Los Angeles Mountain Fire exploded in size, prompting evacuation orders It threatened 3,500 structures in suburban communities, farms and agricultural areas around Camarillo serving more than 10,000 people, according to a statement from Gov. Gavin Newsom. He said he has applied for federal assistance for the area east of the city of Ventura on the Pacific coast.

A thick plume of smoke rose hundreds of feet into the air, covering entire neighborhoods and limiting visibility for firefighters and evacuees. The fire grew from less than half a square mile to 16 square miles (62 square kilometers) in just over five hours.

Several people were injured and taken to hospitals, the Ventura County Fire Department said, but it was not immediately clear how they were injured.

Houses burn in Camarillo as the wind pushes the flames from roof to roof

The erratic winds and limited visibility kept fixed-wing aircraft on the ground, with gusts reaching speeds of 60 miles per hour, said weather service meteorologist Bryan Lewis. Water-dropping helicopters were still flying.

Aerial footage from local television networks showed dozens of homes in flames in several neighborhoods as embers were thrown from house to house. Other footage captures horses trotting alongside evacuating vehicles.

Jade Katz, who said she is disabled and does not drive, waited for a friend to pick her up near her Camarillo Heights home with a suitcase full of medications and Bella, her Great Dane, as she watched the neighborhood burn. But the friend couldn’t reach her, so first responders sent a police car to take her to safety.

Andrew Dowd, a Ventura County fire spokesman, said he had no details on how many buildings were damaged.

Gus Garcia, owner of a ranch south of the fire, said he is waiting to see if conditions will change before deciding whether to evacuate his horses and livestock. At around 12.30pm his animals were still safe and he tried to stay out of the way while others got their livestock out.

His ranch is surrounded by others with horses and alpacas, and Garcia said his neighbors in the canyon didn’t seem panicked.

“The horse community is preparing for this because it’s always possible here,” he said.

The firefighter’s family describes being on the run when their house caught fire

Meanwhile, to the south, Los Angeles County Fire Department crews tried to contain a wildfire near Malibu’s Broad Beach, while authorities briefly closed the Pacific Coast Highway as flames burned near multimillion-dollar properties. Residents were urged to shelter in place as planes dropped water on the 50-acre Broad Fire. By 12:30, 15% was under control and forward progress stopped. Fire officials said two buildings were on fire.

The National Weather Service office for the Los Angeles area changed the red flag warning for increased fire danger with the rare label of “particularly hazardous situation,” and officials in several counties urged residents to be on the lookout for fast-spreading fires, power outages and crashes. trees amid the latest round of infamous Santa Ana winds.

A map of fires in California right now:

Our interactive map below tracks where fires are burning across California and what percentage they are under control. Click on a fire icon to see more details about the wildfire in that area.

With forecast wind gusts between 50 mph and 100 mph and humidity as low as 8%, parts of Southern California could experience conditions ripe for “extreme and life-threatening” fire behavior through Thursday, the weather service said. said.

Forecasters also issued red flag warnings through Thursday from California’s central coast through the San Francisco Bay Area and into counties to the north, where strong winds were also expected.

Utilities in California have begun turning off equipment during high winds and extreme fire danger, after a series of massive and deadly wildfires in recent years were sparked by power lines and other infrastructure. On Wednesday, more than 65,000 customers in Southern California were preventively without power, and more than 20,000 in Northern California.

Wednesday’s fires burned in the same areas as other recent devastating fires, including the 2018 Woolsey Fire, which killed three people and destroyed 1,600 homes near Los Angeles, and the 2017 Thomas Fire, which burned more than destroyed a thousand houses and other structures. 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.