Dozens of schools shuttered as Ventura County fire grows

LOS ANGELES — A wildfire northwest of Los Angeles has grown but authorities say heavy winds that fan fires have subsided and cold temperatures are reducing the fire’s movement

The Ventura County Fire Department says Friday that the blaze that started on a hilltop Thursday evening near the city of Santa Paula spanned more than 12 square miles, up from 11 square miles earlier.

Evacuation orders were issued to about 7,500 people in an area that includes about 1,800 buildings.

Dozens of schools were closed Friday because of the fire.

Ventura County Sheriff Bill Ayub says aerial firefighting efforts were hampered by someone flying a small drone “apparently looking at photography” Thursday evening.

Calmer winds helped

Earlier, calmer weather allowed crews to increase containment on multiple wildfires after gusts fanned blazes across California and led utilities to cut power to prevent winds from damaging equipment and igniting an inferno.

The winds largely subsided as Red Flag warnings for fire danger remained in place through Friday evening for some inland areas to the north and west of Los Angeles.

A wildfire erupted Thursday evening and quickly spread north of Los Angeles. Authorities ordered evacuations for about 7,500 people in an area that includes roughly 1,800 buildings as the blaze threatened the community of Somis.

Nearly 200,000 Sonoma County residents were allowed to return home amid a 120-square-mile fire that forced them to evacuate. At least 140 homes were destroyed.

About 80,000 people in the south remained without power after intentional blackouts.

Rough October statewide

For most of October, fires sprang up across the state, forcing residents to flee homes at all hours as flames indiscriminately burned barns, sheds, mobile homes and multimillion-dollar mansions.

The good news was that dry, dangerous winds that swept both ends of the state this week had mostly subsided and forecasters predicted an upcoming week of placid conditions.

Nearly 200,000 Sonoma County residents were allowed to return home even as the 120-square-mile fire that forced them to evacuate continued to burn. At least 140 homes were destroyed.

Brenda Catelani choked up as she recalled driving back home to Windsor with her husband.

“I think when we left, and especially Sunday, we didn’t think we’d be coming back,” Catelani said.

Chunks of burnt embers, burned leaves and ash littered the outside of her house.

The fire had come within 500 yards of their house — closer than the wine country fires of 2017 that killed 44 people and destroyed 8,900 homes and other buildings in Sonoma and Napa counties.

“We feel extremely lucky,” Catelani said.

Evacuations were also lifted for two small fires, fed by gusts up to 60 mph, that destroyed homes early Thursday in the heavily populated inland region east of Los Angeles. One of those blazes, in Jurupa Valley, was caused by dry grasses ignited when a stolen car chased by police tried to escape through fields.