25 million people in California face ‘life-threatening’ fire warning
At least 800 firefighters were working to contain the Mountain Fire on South Mountain in Ventura County, California, Wednesday, fire officials said. Montecito Fire Department
(CNN) — Powerful winds that fueled fast-moving wildfires across Southern California this
week are expected to pick up momentum on Thursday — worsening conditions for
firefighters who are already battling limited visibility to save lives.
The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag warning until 6 p.m. Thursday - which is
used to describe "extreme and life-threatening fire behavior." The warning is expected to
affect 25 million people in Southern California and the greater San Francisco Bay area.
Earlier this week, forecasters warned conditions appear concemingly similar to those
responsible for "some of the worst fires in Southem California history."
All schools in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles, have been closed through Friday
due to the fires.
Firefighters work to contain the Mountain Fire Wednesday. Montecito Fire Department
Here's the latest:
• Ventura County's Mountain Fire expanded in size on Wednesday after powerful Santa
Ana winds came into contact with very dry air. The blaze is now moving at a
"dangerous rate of spread," Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said at a news
conference Wednesday, burning agricultural fields and hedgerows in the area.
• At least 800 firefighters and 58 fire engines have been deployed to contain the
Mountain Fire on South Mountain. It has been unsafe for helicopters to operate, Fire
Captain Trevor Johnson said in a news conference.
Footage obtained by CNN from the town of Camarillo Hills shows orange embers
searing through trees and homes late Wednesday, with structures barely
recognizable and many bumed to the ground.
Officials haven't determined the number of structures that have been damaged. In a
statement announcing Federal Emergency Management Agency support for fire
rescuers, California Gov. Gavin Newsom estimated roughly 3,500 homes, structures,
and businesses have been affected by the Mountain Fire.
• At least two people have been transported to the hospital with possible smoke
inhalation, fire officials said.
• As of Thursday morning, California's Department of Forestry and Fire Protection
estimated the Mountain Fire has burned at 14,148 acres with 0% containment. More
than 14,000 people remain under evacuation orders, according to the Ventura County
Sheriffs Office.
A scramble to evacuate
Christina Noren, 50, and her husband Paul Boutin, 62, quickly evacuated from their home in Camarillo Heights around 12 p.m. Wednesday.
They only had time to grab their dog, their laptops, some clothes, toothbrushes and
Boutin's thyroid medication.
Boutin has been in remission from thyroid cancer since August, but just had a related
surgery last week and the couple was anxious about Boutin inhaling any smoke. They
chose to evacuate to a hotel in Pismo Beach, more than 100 miles away, rather than a
closer evacuation center.
"You know, the last thing that he needs is to be breathing smoke for the next 2 or 3 days," said Noren.
Noren said she started to get worried about the smoke in the sky around 11:00 a.m. Within 45 minutes, police and fire officials were knocking on doors in her neighborhood and telling people to leave immediately.
"And they were really like, get the hell out of there now," said Noren.
Noren was an artist and has collected art for 30+ years. Her collection includes artists like Catherine Opie, Nathan Oliveira and Brent Estabrook — as well as some of her own pieces from 30 years ago. She had to leave everything behind when she evacuated.
"These are large scale works. These are 8-foot by 8-foot sculptures, 8-foot by 8-foot
paintings. This is not stuff you dump in the Prius," said Noren.
She said she'll "have a good cry and a good scream" if her collection is gone.
"A lot of them I made with my own hands. So I'm a lot more worried than Paul is," said
Noren.
‘The Los Angeles reality’
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| California is being lashed by powerful winds that fed the Mountain Fire, which destroyed homes and | forced hundreds of residents to flee in Ventura County. Qian WeiZhong/VCG/AP |
A brush fire in Malibu is still burning - but its forward progress was stopped after it bumed
at least two structures and shut down the Pacific Coast Highway for part of Wednesday.
"It was extremely windy here today. The winds were blowing so much. The fire happened
because of the high winds," Komal Kapoor, a visiting professor at Pepperdine University,
told CNN, explaining that she received an alert from the National Weather Service with a
"red flag warning" of high winds in Ventura County and Los Angeles counties.
Kapoor added that fires are part of the "Los Angeles reality" and all professors could do
was follow guidance from emergency officials and reassure students.
Two structures caught on fire, the Los Angeles Fire Department said, and there were no
reported injuries.
According to the weather service office in Los Angeles, conditions at the time of the fire
showed north-northwest wind gusts up to 51 mph and humidity at 11%.
 | ||
| The Mountain Fire in Ventura County, Califomia, has damaged or destroyed several homes, officials said. | Montecito Fire Department |
Wildfires threat to power providers
Wildfires have scorched more than 1,015,138 acres throughout the state of California so far
this year, compared to 332,822 acres by this time last year, according to Cal Fire.
The threat of fire starts is so severe that two of the state's power providers cut off power to
thousands of Californians to prevent electrical equipment from sparking flames.
Power equipment can start fires, particularly when conditions are as extreme as forecast
through Thursday. PG&E had to pay $45 million in a settlement for its equipment's role in
starting the Dixie Fire - California's second largest in history - in 2011.
More than 11,000 Southern California Edison customers across five counties had power
shut off Wednesday morning. Nearly 250,000 customers could be impacted, according to
the utility's website.
Power shutoffs affected thousands of PG&E customers by Wednesday morning and will
continue through Thursday, according to the utility's website.
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