Hundreds of firefighters tackle fast-moving California wildfire

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Hundreds of firefighters in California are battling a fast-moving fire that erupted on Wednesday, and has grown to more than 14,000 acres (5,665 hectares), prompting evacuations.

The Mountain fire ignited on Wednesday morning in Ventura county near the city of Camarillo.

As of Thursday morning, it has expanded to 14,187 acres and is currently 0% contained. At least 800 firefighters are working to control the blaze using both ground resources and helicopters, according to the Ventura county fire department.

Local authorities said on Wednesday that more than 14,000 people had been told to evacuate. On Thursday, the evacuation orders remain in effect.

The National Weather Service has issued a red flag warning for parts of south-west California, indicating that critical fire weather conditions are present or expected to occur soon.

On Wednesday, the Los Angeles office of the National Weather Service updated its red flag to include a rare “particularly dangerous situation” label.

The red flag warning will remain in effect in most areas through much of Thursday and will extend into Friday morning for the same regions including the inland empire, the coastal slopes of San Bernardino county, and the mountain areas of San Diego and Riverside county.

High wind warnings and dense smoke advisories are in effect for certain regions on Thursday.

The fire was ignited as powerful Santa Ana winds came into contact with very dry air, according to the weather officials and local authorities.

Weather experts say that a combination of strong winds, low relative humidity and warm temperatures can contribute to extreme fire behavior.

Wind gusts in some areas reached 85mph (187km/h) and the humidity levels in some areas were as low as 8% on Wednesday.

By Thursday morning, the National Weather Service reported that relative humidity was as low as 10%, with wind gusts of 60mph (95km/h) in certain areas.

The winds are expected to ease later on Thursday but until then the critical fire conditions remain.

“Any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly,” the National Weather Service said on Thursday morning.

Officials from the Ventura county fire department said on Wednesday afternoon that they were aware of numerous structures that had been damaged or destroyed by the fire, but that a more accurate assessment of the damage would be carried out once it was safe to do so.

The fire has already destroyed dozens of homes, according to the Associated Press, and fire officials also reported that at least two people were transported to the hospital for possible smoke inhalation.

“Our firefighters are doing nothing short of heroic out there right now,” Trevor Johnson, Ventura county fire department captain, said on Wednesday.

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Due to the high fire danger, Southern California Edison temporarily turned off power to several thousand customers as part of its public safety power shutoff plan to prevent the electric system from becoming a source of ignition.

Similarly, the Pacific Gas and Electric Company cut power to thousands of accounts across the state in an attempt to limit the risk of ignitions.

As of Thursday morning, around 3,000 customers were without power in Ventura county and just over 500 were without power in Los Angeles county, according to poweroutage.us.

Ventura county schools also announced that all schools in the area would be closed on Thursday and Friday.

Gavin Newsom, California’s governor, announced on Wednesday that the state had secured federal assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to help ensure the availability of vital resources to Ventura county.

“This is a dangerous fire that’s spreading quickly and threatening lives,” Newsom said. “State resources have been mobilized to protect communities, and this federal support from the Biden-Harris administration will give state and local firefighters the resources they need to save lives and property as they continue battling this aggressive fire.”

The Mountain fire is not the only blaze that ignited this week in southern California.

The Broad fire erupted in Los Angeles county’s Malibu area on Wednesday, according to local officials. As of Wednesday evening, it had grown to 50 acres (20 hectares), and was 15% contained, with forward progress stopped.

Wildfires have burned more than 1,015,000 acres (410,756 hectares) throughout California this year, according to the California department of forestry and fire protection, compared with 332,822 acres (134,688 hectares) by this time last year.

County officials have scheduled their next news conference for 10am local time (1pm ET).

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