Officials provided progress updates on the Mountain Fire in a Thursday news conference, highlighting their routes of attack and again emphasizing the importance of avoiding the area if possible.
So far, authorities have reported 132 structures have been destroyed, and 88 damaged.
While the fire remains at 5% contained as of Thursday night, officials noted that many firefighters had been out on the line for 36 straight hours.
Where crews are stationed:
Batallion Chief Nick Cleary said that in the area of Camarillo Heights, which they’re calling Branch 1, crews spent a lot of the day cutting down islands of unburned fuels that didn’t ignite on Wednesday. He also said the perimeter didn’t grow, and that houses need to be mopped up completely so damage won’t extend to nearby homes.
Cleary said the most significant action and growth happened in Branch 5 – the Somis and southern areas of South Mountain – on Thursday. Crews targeted Stockton, Waters and Brigsby roads as the fire hooked around and got established in the area with a northeast wind.
Crews held a direct handline from Stockton Road to South Mountain Road, working to cut off the most eastern section of the fire as the winds transitioned.
On the south side of Branch 5, Cleary said there was no significant growth, and crews engaged in hotspots to prevent more fuel from catching.
There was also no significant growth on the Ventura city side of Wells Road and Highway 126 – Cleary said the fire continued to back down into the Santa Clara River bottom. A few spots were engaged there with crews and dozers, but most of the fire is holding on the south side of South Mountain Road working all the way east to San Caytano Street where the crews are going direct back to Stockton Road.
Weather update:
Ariel Cohen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said all red flag warnings have been cleared for the entire area except for in the Santa Susana Mountains until 11 a.m. on Friday. He said that northeasterly gusts will get up to 50 mph until Friday morning when they’re expected to subside.
Injury update and status of evacuation orders:
Jim Fryhoff, Ventura County Sheriff, said there have been 10 non-life-threatening injuries reported as of Thursday, most of which were smoke inhalation.
“The fire is still very dangerous, the winds have not completely deceased, we have numerous firefighters out, it’s now dark, I don’t want any of our first responders getting hurt so please, stay out of the area,” said Fryhoff.
The sheriff said law enforcement has evacuated over 400 homes, 250 residents chose to stay and 800 homes were unoccupied.
“We have deputies that are heavily patrolling the areas that have been evacuated,” reassured Fryhoff. “We will not tolerate any looting of any kind.”
Fryhoff said they still have significant work to do before the areas are safe for repopulation
Looking ahead:
Dustin Gardner, Ventura County Fire Chief, said that once residents are allowed to repopulate their communities, crews will be driving around in small yellow pickup trucks looking to assist people getting back to their homes.
“We want to be there with you, we will stay with our community til the very end and through this all,” said Gardner.