Firefighters struggled Thursday to contain a fast-spreading wildfire in Ventura County that had already destroyed scores of homes and forced thousands to evacuate — and the dangerous winds that fueled those flames were expected to continue into Friday.

Extreme winds in Santa Ana helped spark several fires across the region, but the Mountain Fire exploded Wednesday and engulfed foothill communities around Camarillo and Moorpark.

According to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, the fire was listed at 14,500 acres without containment as of Thursday morning, but after an active night the actual area is likely much larger, officials said.

It remains unclear exactly how many homes were lost, but the devastation was evident along hillside streets where the burned shells of buildings smoldered.

Additional evacuation orders were issued early Thursday for residents of Santa Paula, north of the Santa Clara River. Wednesday's fire had started south of the river, but strong winds pushed the fire west, with embers sparking new fires up to two and a half miles from the main fire line.

“When a fire – a wind-driven fire – is seen that far out, it's really difficult to focus on any kind of perimeter control,” Thomas Shoots, a CalFire spokesman, said Thursday from the fire's command post on the Ventura County Fairgrounds morning.

After a long night of fighting the fire, helicopters were in the air again on Thursday morning.

“When a fire is larger than 14,000 acres, there are a lot of weak spots where it could potentially spread further,” Shoots said.

Residents hug as they stand in front of a burned-out home on Old Coach Drive in Camarillo.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

The National Weather Service issued a “particularly hazardous situation” alert on Wednesday, warning of “widespread, extreme fire weather conditions” across Southwest California. In the Los Angeles area, the alert level has not been raised to this level since 2020.

But on Thursday morning, forecasters predicted slightly better conditions for the mountain fire compared to the previous day, with expectations that winds would “not be as strong as Wednesday and winds would subside more quickly in the afternoon.”

Still, winds pushing the fire southwest could sustain speeds of 30 to 55 mph Thursday, with gusts of up to 100 mph in wind-prone mountainous areas, Ventura County emergency officials warned.

Although firefighters made some progress overnight, Shoots said there are still concerns that the wind will fan more flames across a flammable area of ​​extremely dry brush and vegetation.

The strong winds can quickly push the fire uphill, building momentum that can lead to explosive fire behavior. The area where firefighters saw distant sightings Wednesday is a mix of urban development surrounded by brush.

“It creates a kind of disastrous recipe,” Shoots said.

He said fire inspectors were en route to assess how many buildings were damaged and destroyed, but a precise estimate was not available Thursday, Shoots said.

“We know it was a lot,” he said.

Governor Gavin Newsom said at least 3,500 homes and other buildings were threatened and more than 10,000 people were forced to evacuate. He said federal funding has been secured to help fight the fire.

Edison in Southern California began shutting off power to customers in areas where its equipment was at high risk of wildfires.

A home went up in flames amid the wind-driven Mountain Fire in Camarillo on Wednesday.

(Brian van der Brug / Los Angeles Times)

Nearly 70,000 utility customers across the Southland experienced a power outage Thursday morning “due to the increased risk of wildfires,” the utility said. About a third of the shutdowns were initiated in Ventura County, but power outages also occurred in Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Riverside, Ventura and Orange counties. An additional 257,000 people were being considered for safety shutdowns in those areas through at least Thursday, as well as customers in Santa Barbara and Tulare counties, SCE reported.

Most National Weather Service red flag warnings and high winds across the region were scheduled to expire by Thursday evening, but a standard red flag warning remained in effect until Friday morning for the mountains of Ventura County, the Interstate 5 corridor and the San Mountains Gabriel and Santa Monica.

Santa Barbara County Fire Chief Hugh Montgomery said his crew successfully saved about a dozen burning homes in the hills of Camarillo, but not without challenges.

The Mountain Fire destroyed homes on both sides of Old Coach Drive in Camarillo.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

“We were in a structure fire and made good progress once the hydrants were dry,” he said. “I think everything is so depleted because everyone is siphoning the water system.

“It's very unfortunate that people are losing their homes and their belongings,” he added, “but we've heard that people are getting out safely and that's the most important thing.”

Thousands were evacuated as firefighters battled to put out the flames.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

Red Cross volunteers set up cots and tables as the organization began converting the makeshift evacuation center in Padre Serra Parish into an overnight shelter. The Salvation Army came with hot meals.

The center opened at 10:30 a.m. By late afternoon, around a hundred evacuees had sought refuge there.

Some arrived with minor burns sustained during the evacuation, said Dave Wagner, public affairs volunteer with the Red Cross. Many at the shelter tried to find housing with friends or family or in nearby hotels, with limited success. About 90 people were expected to stay there overnight and hoped to return home on Thursday.

Linda Elmo, an evacuee, said the flames spread so quickly that she and her husband barely had time to escape. A firefighter knocked on the door and told her and her husband, “Go, go, go!”

“It happened so fast,” Elmo said.

Local authorities have issued air quality warnings for much of Ventura and Los Angeles counties due to smoke and ash from the mountain fire. Dozens of schools in Ventura County were closed Thursday because of the fire, and several are closed through Friday.

Times staff Richard Winton, Sandra McDonald and Noah Goldberg contributed to this report.