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    • Wildfire in Southern California is devastating homes and spreading “dangerously quickly.”
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    Wildfire in Southern California is devastating homes and spreading “dangerously quickly.”

    Kathleen William Posted on

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    Firefighters battled a wildfire Thursday that broke out in Southern California due to strong winds, destroying several homes and forcing more than 10,000 people to flee.

    The Mountain Fire, which broke out around 9:40 a.m. Wednesday in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles, has burned over 14,000 acres and was 0% contained as of Thursday morning, according to Cal Fire. Firefighters from across the state battled the fire, the county said.

    “Every helicopter, every fixed-wing aircraft, everything we could get is here to fight this fire,” Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said Wednesday afternoon.

    At least two people were hospitalized for smoke inhalation, officials said.

    The National Weather Service warned Thursday that critical wildfire weather across the state, fueled by gusty winds and low humidity, would continue over the next few days. Winds of 30 to 55 mph are expected in Santa Ana, and gusts of up to 100 mph are possible in mountainous areas through Friday.

    The Federal Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday approved the use of federal funds to help California fight fires.

    Fire threatens thousands of homes and other buildings

    The California Fire Department has not yet released an official count of how many homes and other structures were destroyed, but reporters and photographers from the Ventura County Star, part of the USA TODAY Network, monitored homes burning near Camarillo and Somis throughout the day.

    The fire threatened over 3,500 structures, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday.

    Photos show firefighters working in huge clouds of smoke and houses completely engulfed by the fires and partially leveled.

    “Brushes are burning, grass is burning, hedgerows are burning, agricultural fields are burning and buildings are burning,” Gardner said. “This fire is spreading dangerously quickly.”

    Extreme fire weather across California on Thursday

    About 26 million people across California remained under the warning alert.

    This includes areas along the Interstate 5 corridor and the northern Ventura County mountains through Friday. “Particularly Dangerous Situations” (PDS) warnings were extended through late Thursday morning in the San Fernando Valley, the Santa Clarita Valley, the central and southeastern Ventura County valleys, and inland Ventura County to beaches from Malibu to Oxnard.

    “These are extremely critical and highly volatile conditions,” the Los Angeles/Oxnard weather service said. “Any new fires in the Red Flag Warning area – and particularly the PDS Red Flag Warning area – will result in rapid fire spread, extreme fire behavior and long-distance visibility.”

    Ventura County officials said power could be shut off proactively to prevent new fires from starting under these conditions. As of Thursday morning, over 90,000 customers were affected.

    Contributors: Jorge L. Ortiz and Thao Nguyen, USA TODAY; The Ventura County Star

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    Kathleen William
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