California authorities asked on Thursday, November 7, for the evacuation of thousands of people in the face of a large fire that destroyed dozens of homes and continues to worsen in the hills northwest of the Los Angeles region. The Mountain Fire broke out near the city of Camarillo on Wednesday. It is burning in an area where about 30,000 people live, according to Ventura County firefighters.
The cause is still unknown, but the flames spread quickly thanks to strong winds, with gusts of up to 130 km/h. It threatens more than 3,500 homes and has already consumed nearly 8,100 hectares. Authorities are currently trying to assess the number of homes destroyed. According to local media present at the scene, there are dozens of them.
After two wet winters that provided relative respite, California is experiencing a very active fire season this year. The vegetation reformed thanks to the rainfall of the last two years has dried and becomes a powerful fuel. This summer, the “Golden State” suffered several heat waves, signs of global warming. In July-August it suffered the fourth largest fire in its history.
Dry fire hydrants
Ventura County firefighters said they are dedicating all their resources to this fire. Helicopters dropped water on the area throughout the night. Several hundred firefighters defended the houses with fire hoses. The fight against the flames is so intense that the hydrants to which the fire trucks are connected ran dry due to demand on Wednesday night.
“We empty the water systems”explained Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner during a press conference Thursday. This forced their teams to bring water to different homes.
The flames are driven by the Santa Ana winds, hot, dry desert gusts typical of fall in Southern California. Local meteorological services issued an alert this week warning of the risk of fires. These winds should gradually lose strength on Thursday, before “a decrease” considerable at night, explained meteorologist Rich Thompson.
Power companies cut power to tens of thousands of customers in the area, a common strategy in California during high winds, to reduce the risk of new fires caused by downed power lines.
