Thousands threatened by wildfire near Los Angeles

Photo: Noah Berger Associated Press A firefighter walks through smoke while battling the Mountain Fire, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024, in Santa Paula, Calif.

Étienne Laurent – Agence France-Presse in Camarillo

Published at 7:25 p.m.

• United States

California authorities urged thousands of people to evacuate Thursday as a massive wildfire burned in the hills northwest of the Los Angeles area and destroyed dozens of homes.

The Mountain Fire broke out Wednesday near the city of Camarillo. It is burning in an area home to about 30,000 people, according to Ventura County fire officials.

Its cause is still unknown, but the flames have spread quickly thanks to strong winds, with gusts of up to 80 mph.

It is threatening more than 3,500 homes and has already consumed nearly 20,000 acres.

“We stayed up all night watching what was happening. I didn’t sleep,” Erica Preciado told local TV station KTLA as she evacuated the area with her family.

“We’re just trying to get to safety. I didn’t even know what to take. I just put everything I could in my car,” she added, close to tears.

Authorities are currently trying to assess the number of homes destroyed. According to local media on the scene, there are dozens.

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Photo: Noah Berger Associated Press Horses gallop in a paddock at Swanhill Farms as the Mountain Fire burns in Moorpark, Calif., on Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024.

“Everything is gone,” a man with a broken voice told KTLA after losing his home of 27 years.

After two rainy winters that provided a relative respite, California is experiencing a very active fire season this year.

Vegetation that grew back from the rains of the past two years has dried out and is becoming a powerful fuel.

The Golden State has suffered several heat waves this summer, a hallmark of global warming climate.

In July and August, it suffered the fourth largest fire in its history.

Dried-out fire hydrants

Ventura County fire officials said they were devoting all their resources to the blaze.

Helicopters have been dropping water on the area throughout the night. Several hundred firefighters are defending homes with hoses.

The firefighting is so intense that the hydrants that fire trucks plug into were drained by demand at one point Wednesday evening.

“We have drained the water systems,” Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said at a news conference Thursday. This forced his teams to transport water to the various homes.

Photo: Étienne Laurent Agence France-Presse A firefighting helicopter sprays water over the Mountain Fire in Santa Paula, California, on November 7, 2024.

Facing the flames, Dawn Deleon had just moments to flee with her six dogs.

“We saw the neighbors’ houses burning and we thought it was time to leave,” she told KTLA. “We left for five minutes and then we turned around to get my phone and the house was already on fire.” »

The flames are being driven by Santa Ana winds, hot, dry desert winds that are typical of fall in Southern California.

Local weather services issued an alert this week, warning of the risk of wildfires.

Those winds are expected to gradually decrease in strength Thursday before “diminishing” considerably in the evening, meteorologist Rich Thompson said.

Power companies have cut power to tens of thousands of customers in the region, a common strategy in California during high winds, to reduce the risk of new fires caused by toppled power lines.