3,500 homes under threat as California's Ventura County fire burns through neighborhoods

LOS ANGELES — Firefighters were struggling to contain a fast-moving Ventura County wildfire on Thursday that had destroyed numerous homes — and the dangerous winds fueling those flames were forecast to continue through Friday.

Santa Ana winds helped propel several fires across the region, but the Mountain fire exploded Wednesday, sweeping into foothill communities around Camarillo and Moorpark.

It remains unclear how many homes were lost, but the devastation was evident along hillside streets where the burned husks of structures smoldered.

The National Weather Service issued a “particularly dangerous situation” red flag alert, warning of “widespread, extreme fire weather conditions” through Friday across southwest California. The alert hadn’t been heightened to that level in the Los Angeles area since 2020.

The warning was issued for wide swaths of Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Much of the surrounding area also was facing dangerous winds, with high-wind or standard red flag warnings issued for mountains in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, the Inland Empire and parts of Orange County.

The wildfire threatened 3,500 homes and other structures and forced the evacuation of more than 10,000 people, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said federal funds had been secured to help in fighting the blaze.

Southern California Edison began shutting off power to customers in areas where its equipment was considered at high risk of sparking a wildfire.

More than 65,000 utility customers across the Southland had power cut as of Wednesday afternoon “due to heightened wildfire risk,” according to the utility. Shutoffs, which had affected Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura, Orange and Santa Barbara counties early Wednesday, were extended into parts of Kern and Tulare counties. An additional 254,000 were being considered for safety shutoffs through at least Thursday, SCE reported.

Santa Barbara County Fire Capt. Hugh Montgomery said his crew had successfully salvaged around a dozen burning homes in the hills of Camarillo but not without challenges.

“We were inside of a structure fire and starting to make good headway when the hydrants went dry,” he said. “I think everything is just so depleted from everyone sucking off of the water system.

“It’s very unfortunate that people are losing homes and their belongings,” he added, “but from what we’ve heard people are getting out safely, and that’s the most important thing.”

Red Cross volunteers set up cots and tables as the organization began converting the temporary evacuation center at Padre Serra Parish into an overnight shelter. The Salvation Army arrived with hot meals.

The center opened at 10:30 a.m. By late afternoon, roughly a hundred evacuees had taken shelter inside.

A few arrived with minor burns sustained during the evacuation, said Dave Wagner, public affairs volunteer with the Red Cross. Many at the shelter worked to find accommodations with friends or family or at nearby hotels, with limited success. About 90 were set to spend the night there, hoping to return home Thursday.

Linda Elmo, an evacuee, said the flames moved so rapidly she and her husband had little time to flee. A firefighter knocked on the door, urging her and her husband to “go, go, go!”

“It happened so fast,” Elmo said.

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Times staff writers Grace Toohey and Noah Goldberg contributed to this report.