Numerous homes have already been destroyed by the rapidly spreading flames, and thousands of residents were asked to evacuate a wildfire that was out of control and blazing near Los Angeles on Thursday.
New areas were burning on hillsides, farms, and in residential areas as a result of strong seasonal winds that were dumping embers up to three miles (five kilometres) from the fire’s centre in Camarillo.
From a standing start early on Wednesday, the Mountain Fire spread quickly, consuming 20,000 acres (8,100 hectares) by the next day. Residents were forced to evacuate as towering flames jumped erratically.
“We’ve been up all night watching this. I haven’t slept,” Erica Preciado told one local broadcaster as she drove her family out of the danger zone.
“We’re just trying to get a safe place. I didn’t even know what to take. I just have everything in my car,” she said, gesturing tearfully to her packed vehicle.
A number of houses have been destroyed, some consumed by flames in minutes.
One man told broadcaster KTLA he and his family had fled their home of 27 years, finding out later that it had been destroyed.
“It’s all gone,” he said, his voice catching. “It’s all gone.”
Dawn Deleon described how she had only moments to flee with her six dogs.
“We watched the neighbors’ houses burning and figured it was time to get out of there,” she said.
“We left and were just gone for five minutes and went back to get my phone, and the house was already on fire and gone.”
Officials from the Ventura County Fire Department stated that they were directing resources towards the fire in a 30,000-person neighbourhood.
Alongside bulldozers attempting to remove fuels, there were ground teams protecting homes with hose lines.
According to Ventura County fire commander Trevor Johnson, helicopter pilots worked all night dumping water, and he predicted that the battle will go on for a while.
“We’re going to have an active presence in there for days to come,” he told reporters.
At one point late Wednesday, Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner reported that workers fighting the fires were left without hoses.
He claimed that resources were being strained by the hundreds of fire vehicles that had been pumping water all night.
“We have been fighting fire actively now for 26 hours, and we found all of those fire trucks hooked up to all of those hydrants, and we drained water systems down,” he told reporters.
That affected supplies higher up hillsides, and forced crews to shuttle water up to the blazes.
He said while it was not a common problem, it is known to happen in major incidents.
“It’s normal enough that we plan for it, so it’s impactful, but it will be mitigated,” he said.
