A wildfire in southern California forced thousands of people out of their homes overnight and scorched at least 45,000 acres, while a brush fire spreading swiftly over thousands of acres menaced northern Los Angeles.
Whipped by high Santa Ana winds and feeding on dry vegetation, the fast-spreading Thomas Fire prompted mandatory evacuation orders for some 27,000 Ventura County residents after igniting overnight. Tens of thousands of people were without power.
Officials estimated that at least 150 structures were levelled by the blaze and that one firefighter had been injured. The blaze encroached on the city limits of Ventura, home to more than 100,000 people, and burned within a quarter-mile of city hall. School districts across the county were closed.
“The prospects for containment aren’t good. Really, mother nature is going to decide if we have the ability to put it out,” Ventura County Fire Department Chief Mark Lorenzen told reporters overnight.
The conflagration was at zero percent containment as Tuesday dawned, and with winds expected to accelerate, fire officials were settling in for a long battle. Cal Fire officials warned the fire had seen “exponential growth” overnight and was becoming “as bad as it could get”.
Recognising the scale of the peril, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services announced it had secured a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to assist in containing the fire, and Gov Jerry Brown issued an emergency proclamation for Ventura County.
“This fire is very dangerous and spreading rapidly, but we'll continue to attack it with all we've got,” Mr Brown said in a statement. “It's critical residents stay ready and evacuate immediately if told to do so”.
Ventura County fire officials said that 500 firefighters were already committed to the fight, with more resources incoming.
A blanket of thick smoke led to health warnings, with an air quality regulator urging residents to avoid vigorous exercise and suggesting that children and the elderly remain indoors.
Separately, a brush fire had expanded to around 4,000 acres in the northern Los Angeles area, spurring evacuation orders and warnings about embers carrying the fire into residential areas. Noting that stiff winds were likely to persist, fire officials warned that flames could persist for days and that new blazes might ignite.
“My message, very strong and clear, to the residents of Los Angeles, is to be ready to go,” Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said, urging people to gather “critical documents” and possessions.
The twin blazes extended a dire year for California firefighting. Residents of northern California’s wine country are still reeling from a series of immense blazes that destroyed thousands of homes and killed more than 40 people.
As with the Thomas Fire, those blazes were sustained and spread by high winds and fueled by dry brush that was the legacy of a half-decade of record drought. Scenes from Southern California echoed the wine country fires, with authorities issuing mass evacuation orders as an unremitting blaze threatened an urban area.
