25 million people in California face ‘life-threatening’ fire warning

On By Littum

Editor’s note: Follow live updates on the wind-driven wildfires in Southern California here.



CNN
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Strong winds that fueled fast-moving wildfires across Southern California this week are expected to pick up speed Thursday — worsening conditions for firefighters already battling limited visibility to save lives.

The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning until 6 p.m. 18 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 of conditions roughly the same to those responsible for “some of the worst fires in Southern California history.”

All the schools in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles, have been closed until Friday because of the fires.

Firefighters are working to contain the mountain fire Wednesday.

Here’s the latest:

  • Ventura County’s Mountain Fire expanded in size Wednesday after strong Santa Ana winds came into contact with very dry air. The fire is now moving at a “dangerous rate of spread,” Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said at a press conference Wednesday, burning farmland and hedgerows in the area.
  • At least 800 firefighters and 58 fire engines have been deployed to contain the wildfire on South Mountain. It has been unsafe for helicopters to operate, fire captain Trevor Johnson said at a news conference.
  • Footage obtained by CNN from the town of Camarillo Hills shows orange embers burning through trees and houses late Wednesday, with structures barely recognizable and many burned to the ground.
  • Officials have not determined the number of structures that have been damaged. In one declaration California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who announced Federal Emergency Management Agency support for fire rescuers, estimated that about 3,500 homes, structures and businesses have been affected by the wildfire.
  • At least two people have been transported to the hospital with possible smoke inhalation, according to the fire service.
  • As of Thursday morning, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection estimated that 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 Sheriff’s Office.

Christina Noren, 50, and her husband Paul Boutin, 62, quickly evacuated their Camarillo Heights home around noon 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 had just had a related operation last week, and the couple were concerned that Boutin might be inhaling 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 he needs is to be breathing smoke for the next 2 or 3 days,” Noren said.

Noren said she began to worry about the smoke in the sky around 10 p.m. 11 a.m. Within 45 minutes, police and fire officials were knocking on doors in her neighborhood, telling people to leave immediately.

“And they were really like, get the hell out of there now,” Noren said.

Noren was an artist and has collected art for more than 30 years. Her collection includes artists such as Catherine Opie, Nathan Oliveira and Brent Estabrook – as well as some of her own work from 30 years ago. She had to leave everything behind when she evacuated.

“These are big works. These are 8 feet by 8 feet sculptures, 8 feet by 8 feet paintings. It’s not something you throw in the Prius,” said Noren.

She said she will “have a good cry and a good scream” if her collection is gone.

“Many of them I made with my own hands. So I’m much more worried than Paul is,” Noren said.

California is being whipped by high winds that fueled the Mountain Fire, which destroyed homes and forced hundreds of residents to flee in Ventura County.

A brush fire in Malibu is still burning — but its advancing progress was halted after it burned at least two structures and closed part of the Pacific Coast Highway Wednesday.

“It was very 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” for 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 the guidance of emergency officials and reassure students.

Two structures caught fire, the Los Angeles Fire Department said, and there were no reported injuries.

According to the Los Angeles Weather Service office, conditions at the time of the fire showed north-northwest winds gusting up to 51 mph and 11% humidity.

The wildfire in Ventura County, Calif., has damaged or destroyed several homes, officials said.

Wildfires have burned more than 1,015,138 acres across the state of California so far this year, compared to 332,822 acres at this time last year, according to Cal Fire.

The threat of the fire starting is so serious that two of the state’s power providers cut power to thousands of Californians to prevent electrical equipment from igniting flames.

Electrical equipment can start fires, especially when conditions are as extreme as expected 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 on record — in 2011.

More than 11,000 Southern California Edison customers in five counties were without power Wednesday morning. Almost 250,000 customers may be affected, according to the utility company’s website.

Power outages affected thousands of PG&E customers Wednesday morning and will continue through Thursday, according to the work’s website.

CNN’s Taylor Galgano, Taylor Romine, Emma Tucker, Robert Shackelford, Chris Boyette and Mary Gilbert contributed to this report.