Calmer winds helped California firefighters battle the once out-of-control Mountain Fire on Friday as they continued to defend homes from the destructive blaze, officials said.
Evacuation orders have been lifted for at least two communities near the Mountain Fire in Ventura County, sheriff’s Sgt. Monica Smith said, but others remained in place.
State firefighters reported 7% containment amid improving weather for blaze, which had burned nearly 21,000 acres as of Friday.
“The incident command team is working diligently to open previously evacuated areas for repopulation as soon as it is safe to do so,” first responders said on Ventura County’s incident website.
Communities in the Santa Susana Mountains and nearby foothills between Santa Paula and Moorpark, 50 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, were subject to evacuations that impacted an estimated 15,000 people Thursday into Friday, Smith said.
The area of the fire is home to nearly 40,000, according to a population profile published by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, known as Cal Fire.
Ventura County Animal Services said 115 horses, five ponies, three donkeys, seven sheep, 33 goats, four mini horses, one cattle, and 20 alpacas are being sheltered Friday as evacuees.
The blaze destroyed 132 structures through Thursday, and 10 people have been reported injured, according to Ventura County Fire Department spokesman Andy VanSciver and Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff.
The extent of injuries and condition information was unavailable. Cal Fire said firefighters are among the injured.
A 10-home street in the hilly community of Somis, near the fire’s start, was nearly wiped out, with only one remaining after flames marched through, NBC Los Angeles reported Thursday.
Resident Jessica Graham told the station family members tried to save their home but flames reached a well, cut off the water supply they were using to fight it, and quickly threatened their lives before they escaped.
“I know we’ll be OK,” she said. “We still have our lives and none of us were taken from our families.”
Firefighters used their trucks to get some residents away from the looming flames, Ventura County Fire Capt. Trevor Johnson said. The area’s housing stock is relatively new, with many homes built after 1980.
Utility Southern California Edison said Friday that power was restored to almost all Ventura County customers after it instituted a Public Safety Power Shutoff for some communities in the fire area.
Warm, dry offshore winds erupted overnight Tuesday and helped spread the fire, which started Wednesday morning amid high temperatures in the 70s.
A gust of 62 mph was recorded within an hour of the fire’s start, according to weather service data, and the morning produced multiple gusts above 40 and 50 mph — tropical-storm-level winds.
On Thursday, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for the area of the fire and announced the Federal Emergency Management Agency approved a grant that could cover much of the local costs of fighting the blaze.
Cal Fire said 2,420 personnel were assigned to the fire. They were assisted by 14 helicopters and 378 engines, the agency said.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation, Cal Fire said.
The Ventura County Air Pollution Control District said Thursday that unhealthy air from smoke was expected in the Conejo Valley, Simi Valley and Moorpark. The Ventura Family YMCA was giving N95 masks to residents to help them fend off smoke exposure, according to its Facebook page.
On Friday, wind gusts were 12 mph or less, with a nearly two-hour morning stretch of no perceptible winds, according to National Weather Service data.
The fire area’s remaining red flag fire warnings, which declare conditions are ripe for fast-erupting blazes, expired at 11 a.m. Friday, weather service meteorologist Ryan Kittell said.
Winds are shifting from offshore to onshore, meaning they’re coming from the cooler Pacific, but they will still produce dry gusts, Kittell said.
Winds could continue to be problematic for firefighters, he said, but the change in direction could pave the way for the possibility of rain early next week.
Despite a warm day Friday, “a cooling trend should develop” starting Sunday, according to the weather service.
“It signals an end to what caused all this,” meteorologist Kittell said.