132 structures destroyed in Southern California wildfire as fierce winds expected to subside
A Southern California wildfire has destroyed 132 structures, mostly homes, in less than two days, fire officials said Thursday as raging winds were forecast to ease.The fire started Wednesday morning in Ventura County and has grown to about 32 square miles at 5% containment.Its cause has not been determined.Ten people have been injured in the course of the fire, Ventura County Sheriff James Fryhoff said.
Most of them suffered from smoke inhalation or other non-life-threatening injuries.Fire officials said 88 other structures were damaged but did not specify whether they had been burned or affected by water or smoke damage.Some 10,000 people remained under evacuation orders Thursday as the Mountain Fire continued to threaten some 3,500 structures in suburban neighborhoods, ranches and agricultural areas around Camarillo in Ventura County.County fire officials said crews working in steep terrain with support from water-dropping helicopters were focusing on protecting homes on hillsides along the fire’s northeast edge near the city of Santa Paula, home to more than 30,000 people.Kelly Barton watched as firefighters sifted through the charred rubble of her parents’ ranch home of 20 years in the hills of Camarillo with a view of the Pacific Ocean.The crews uncovered two safes and her parents’ collection of vintage door knockers undamaged among the devastation.“This was their forever retirement home,” Barton said Thursday.
“Now in their 70s, they have to start over.”Her father returned to the house an hour after evacuating Wednesday to find it already destroyed.He was able to move four of their vintage cars to safety but two — including a Chevy Nova he’d had since he was 18 — burned to “toast,” Barton said.Officials in several Southern California counties urged residents to be on watch for fast-spreading blazes, power outages and downed trees during the latest round of notorious Santa Ana winds.
Morning Report delivers the latest news, v...