Fire north of Los Angeles destroys more than 100 homes

Californian authorities requested, Thursday, November 7, the evacuation of thousands of people following a vast fire which has already destroyed dozens of homes and continues to worsen in the hills of the northwest from the Los Angeles area. The Mountain Fire broke out near the town of Camarillo on Wednesday. It is burning in an area where about 30,000 people live, according to Ventura County firefighters.

Its cause is still unknown, but the flames spread quickly thanks to powerful winds, with gusts of up to 130 km/h, which should however calm down during the night from Thursday to Friday.

The fire threatens more than 3,500 homes and has already consumed nearly 8,300 hectares. As of Thursday evening, it was only 5% contained, according to authorities. A first estimate of the damage shows 132 houses completely destroyed and around 88 badly damaged by the flames. A state of emergency has been declared in the most affected areas, announced the governor of the state, Gavin Newsom, who visited the area on Thursday.

After two rainy winters which provided a relative respite, California is experiencing a very active fire season this year. The vegetation reformed thanks to the precipitation of the last two years has dried up and becomes a powerful fuel. This summer, the Golden State suffered from several heat waves, signs of climate change. In July-August, it suffered the fourth largest fire in its history.

Dry fire hydrants

Ventura County fire officials said they are devoting all their resources to the 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 terminals to which the fire trucks are connected were dried up on Wednesday evening. “We emptied the water systems”Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said Thursday. This forced his teams to transport them to different homes.

The flames are driven by the Santa Ana winds, hot, dry gusts from the desert, typical of fall in Southern California. Local weather services had issued an alert to warn of the risk of fires; it should be lifted on Friday, they indicated Thursday evening. These winds should gradually lose their strength on Thursday, before “a decrease” significant in the evening, 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.