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    • Mountain fire explodes in Los Angeles: homes destroyed, 0% containment
    Frisco

    Mountain fire explodes in Los Angeles: homes destroyed, 0% containment

    Bronwen Cerys Posted on

    “Firefighters have been busy since the beginning getting people out of their homes and saving lives,” Trevor Johnson, chief of operations for the Ventura County Fire Department, said at a news conference today about the mountain fire northwest of Los Angeles. He said it had been “a tough firefight” since emergency responders arrived on the scene in the area between Moorpark and Somis this morning.

    The Mountain Fire currently covers 10,480 acres with 0% containment. Officials said emergency responders made more than 14,000 contacts to evacuate people in the community. Two civilians were transported to the hospital with smoke inhalation.

    A day after a historic presidential election, every local newscast in Los Angeles focused on coverage of the mountain fire, including images of burning homes, correspondents on the scene and interviews with evacuees and local officials.

    “This is a classic Santa Ana wind event. We have sustained winds in excess of 50 mph and gusts in excess of 80,” said Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner. “Every firefighter in the region, all of our partners – from Los Angeles County, Orange County, Kern County, Santa Barbara County, our partners at CalFire, our partners in law enforcement, the sheriff, every helicopter, every fixed-wing aircraft, everything.” We were able to reach it – is here to fight this fire and it is spreading at a dangerous rate.”

    A major factor, said Gardner, are those winds. The result: “This fire has spread more than two and a half miles ahead of us.”

    According to VCFD Department Chief and Incident Commander Jeff Change, red flag conditions are expected to “continue at least until sunset tomorrow.”

    Thousands of residents have already been evacuated in the zones outlined in purple below.

    The fire is currently spreading further west through the Santa Clara Riverbed area south of the city of Santa Paula. This city and the community of Saticoy are expected to be the next areas to be evacuated.

    Other concerns include the densely populated Camarillo Heights area and the 101 freeway corridor that connected Los Angeles to Ventura and Santa Barbara.

    The fire brought flashbacks to the massive Thomas Fire that broke out north of Santa Paula on December 4, 2017, burning parts of the now-threatened area. Three weeks later, it had scorched 281,000 acres and burned hundreds of homes, becoming at the time the largest wildfire on record in California.

    Below is a video taken this evening looking south from Santa Paula Airport.

    Johnson said the cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

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    Bronwen Cerys
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