Shocking map reveals huge space engulfed by devastating Ventura County mountain hearth

A shocking map has revealed the extent of the devastation after a fast-moving California wildfire ripped through communities, sending millionaire mansions up in flames and forcing 10,000 people thousands to evacuate. 

More than 10,000 acres in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles, had been ravaged as of 4pm yesterday. 

Pictures show firefighters tackling huge blazes at million-dollar homes in the county.

The fire started in the area of Balcom Canyon Road and Bradley Road in Somis but it has since spread to Camarillo where dozens of homes are on fire.

Large swathes of rural mountainous areas have also been affected, the extraordinary map shows. 

Evacuation orders are in place and the safety of around 3,500 structures in suburban communities, ranches and agricultural areas around Camarillo have been threatened. 

Powerful winds caused the Mountain Fire to explode in size in a region that has seen some of California’s most destructive fires over the years. 

More than 10,000 people have been told to leave as forecasters warned of the potential for ‘extreme and life-threatening’ conditions. 

‘This is as intense as it gets,’ Trevor Johnson, the Ventura County Fire Captain said in a news conference Wednesday afternoon. ‘The hair on the back of the firefighters’ neck I’m sure was standing up.’

The fire – which grew from less than a half of a square mile to 16 square miles in just five hours – created thick smoke that rose hundreds of feet into the sky, blanketing whole neighborhoods and limiting visibility for firefighters and those attempting to flee.

The area east of the Pacific coast city of Ventura will receive federal assistance after a request from Newsom was granted, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said Wednesday. 

Aerial footage of the blaze showed dozens of homes completely engulfed across several neighborhoods as live coal whipped from house to house.

Other footage captured horses trotting alongside evacuating vehicles. 

Ventura County Fire Captain Trevor Johnson described crews racing with their engines to homes threatened by the flames to save lives.

‘This fire is moving dangerously fast,’ Dustin Gardner, the Ventura County Fire Chief, said.

The erratic wind gusts topped 61 mph and grounded fixed-wing aircraft, despite water-dropping helicopters remaining in the air, according to Bryan Lewis, a weather service meteorologist.

But despite utilizing all resources, the fire was still burning out of control Wednesday afternoon. 

Fire responders were able to make contact with 14,000 people before urging them to leave as live coal spread more than two miles away and sparked new flames.  

Jade Katz, a 35-year-old disabled woman living in Camarillo heights, was picked up by first responders with a suitcase full of medication and her service dog as a helicopter dropped water on the house directly across the street from her own front door. 

‘On the way out of the neighborhood, there were five or eight houses that had already burnt to the ground,’ Katz said. 

At one spot, flames licked the burning remains of a home. Its roof was reduced to only a few charred shingles. 

Gus Garcia, another resident who owns a ranch just south of the fire, said he’s waiting to see whether conditions will change before he makes the ultimate decision to evacuate his horses and cattle.

‘The horse community, they prepare for this because it’s always a possibility up here,’ he said.

When he checked on his animals at around 12.30pm, they were still accounted for and safe.

The amount of structures that have been damaged by the massive blaze is still unclear, according to Andrew Dowd, a Ventura County fire spokesperson.

So far, no firefighters have reported any significant injuries, but two people were taken to hospitals after suffering apparent smoke inhalation. 

Meanwhile to the south, Los Angeles County Fire Department crews scrambled to contain another wildfire near Malibu’s Broad Beach. 

Residents were urged to shelter in place while aircrafts dropped water on the 50-acre Broad Fire that was burning near multimillion-dollar properties.

Pacific Coast Highway was briefly shut down before the blaze was 15 percent contained around 12.30pm, where it was then discovered that two structures burned in the midst of the flames.  

But the National Weather Service office for Los Angeles threw out its red flag warning for increased fire danger – specifically with a rare ‘particularly dangerous situation’ label – urging residents to be on watch for fast-spreading blazes, power outages and downed trees amid the latest round of the notorious Santa Ana winds. 

With predicated wind gusts between 50 mph and 100 mph and humidity as low as eight percent, parts of Southern California could still be at risk for ‘extreme and life-threatening’ conditions into Thursday, according to the weather service.

Additional red flag warnings until Thursday were issued to California’s central coast through the San Francisco Bay Area and into counties to the north – locations where strong winds are also expected.

Equipment in the state began to power down during the high winds and extreme fire danger after a series of massive and deadly wildfires in recent years were sparked by electrical lines and other infrastructure. 

More than 65,000 people in Southern California and upwards of 20,000 people in Northern California were without power preventatively on Wednesday.

The recent fires were burning in the same areas of other destructive fires – including the 2018 Woolsey Fire, which left three people dead and destroyed 1,600 homes near Los Angeles.

The 2017 Thomas Fire, which destroyed more than a thousand homes and other structures in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, also occurred in the same area.

Both prior blazes were blamed on equipment from Southern California Edison, who paid out tens of millions of dollars to settle the claims. 

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said on Wednesday that the area east of the Pacific coast city of Ventura will receive federal assistance after a request from Governor Gavin Newsom was granted.