Thanks to favorable weather conditions on Saturday, thousands of firefighters were able to fight the devastating wildfire that has burned nearly 20,000 acres, destroyed more than 130 homes and damaged nearly 90 others. Human firefighters were able to gain the upper hand. Meanwhile, life for Ventura County residents has changed forever.
The fire was 17% contained by Saturday morning as crews extinguished a mulch fire in a farmland north of Highway 118, just a few miles east of the Somis area where the fire started. In Santa Paula, firefighters were battling a smoky area at the bottom of the Santa Clara River, while in the hard-hit Camarillo Heights neighborhood, the area was surrounded by shells from burned-out homes and several miles from the blaze. They were clearing a hotspot 300 feet away.
“There’s going to be a lot of resources out there today,” Clint Swensen, chief of operations for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, said of the Camarillo Heights effort.
The fire started shortly before 9 a.m. Wednesday morning in a remote area near Bradley and Balcom Canyon roads in Santa Ana wildfire-prone conditions, with wind gusts exceeding 90 mph and high humidity. The National Weather Service issued a “red flag” as it reached single digits. Please be careful. ”The cause is still under investigation.
The weather was favorable on Saturday, and about 3,000 firefighters were helping to extinguish the fire. This is because the winds have weakened and relative humidity levels have increased.
The trend is expected to continue into Monday, giving crews several days to advance preparations around the fire. However, windy and dry conditions are expected to pick up again in the evening and Tuesday, making it dangerous again.
“We are closely monitoring the situation as it is consistent with the possibility of significant fire weather conditions,” said Ariel Cohen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service offices in Los Angeles and Oxnard.
Air quality improved Saturday due to favorable weather conditions and the presence of firefighters, and a warning issued by the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District was scheduled to expire at 4 p.m.
A thick layer of smoke blanketed the county on Friday, forcing many residents to stay indoors and schools to close, but by Saturday air quality was rated “good to moderate” across all parts of the region. , which was expected to remain in place until Monday.
However, California American Water Company, Pleasant Valley Mutual Water Company, and Crestview Mutual Water Company are restricting water issued a warning that it was unsafe. You can safely drink it even if it is boiled.
The fire had prompted evacuation orders for thousands of residents in the fire’s path. As of Saturday, 10 areas remained under the notice, including north of Somis, around Santa Paula and near Grimes Canyon Road. Residents can check the Ventura County Sheriff’s Emergency Services Incident Dashboard for the latest information.
Southern California’s Edison County, which had shut off power to more than 40,000 homes in the area as a precautionary measure due to Santa Ana’s high winds, reported Saturday that fewer than 100 homes in the county were without power. I was doing it.
The blaze was at its worst on Wednesday, when strong winds prevented planes from dropping retardant as firefighters battled the flames on steep, steep terrain amid regular water shortages.
Severe weather also sparked small wildfires in other parts of Southern California, including Santa Barbara County, the Angeles National Forest and Malibu.
The fire was the most destructive wildfire in Southern California in years. However, it fell short of the damage caused by the 2017 Thomas Fire, which burned more than 280,000 acres and destroyed more than 1,000 structures in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, but the even more devastating Woolsey Fire occurred the following year. did.
Gov. Gavin Newsom, who visited the fire area Thursday, declared a state of emergency in the county that day and helped mobilize firefighting resources. He issued an executive order Friday to expedite debris removal and mobilize the California National Guard. He also spoke with President Biden about federal support, including help with rising costs.
This wildfire is the sixth wildfire in this part of Ventura County since 1986, most recently the 2023 Southern Fire and the 2019 Maria Fire, which burned thousands of acres in the western portion of the current fire. is also included.
Repeated fires in a single area create a dangerous cycle of burning brush and trees and creating areas for light invasive grasses to grow, which are excellent tinderboxes for new fires. Especially this year, after two seasons of high growth followed by record heat. .
