Residents of north San Bernardino were forced to flee their homes overnight as a fast-moving wildfire burned through neighborhoods.
The Hillside Fire had burned through 200 acres as of 3 am local time, shutting down a stretch of highway 18 as it burned out of control.
Video taken by local media showed homes and other structures on fire.
The new fire follows several others on Wednesday in Southern California, including a fast-moving wildfire in Ventura County, California, which came dangerously close to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library Wednesday morning.
Nearby residents fled with whatever belongings they could carry and scrambled to get horses and other livestock out of harm's way.
Mandatory evacuations were ordered after the blaze, known as the Easy Fire, started just before 7 a.m. local time and burned close to several neighborhoods in the Simi Valley.
The fire burned more than 2 square miles within just a few hours.
Another fire that broke out mid-morning in Jurupa Valley, east of Los Angeles in Riverside County, also forced evacuations, including at a nursing home, where several patients in wheelchairs and stretchers were helped out by workers as thick plumes of smoke shot into the sky, KABC-TV reported. Groups of patients were seen wearing face masks, waiting for transportation near a roadway off-ramp.
The blaze was named the Hill Fire. It had burned about 200 acres and was 5% contained, according to Cal Fire. One civilian had sustained minor injuries, and a house and mobile home were damaged.
The Easy Fire was threatening 7,000 homes affecting 26,000 residents, officials said in a Wednesday afternoon press conference. Most of those were under the mandatory evacuation order.
"The fire outflanked us very rapidly today, pushed by those 40 to 45 mph winds," said Ventura County Fire Department Assistant Chief Chad Cook, adding that gusts reached 60 mph and aerial operations had to be grounded at times.
Cook, who is the incident commander, said firefighters were in defensive mode.
"We have resources all around the incident right now, actively engaged in structure protection and lifesaving measures."
Several outbuildings had burned and there were reports of at least one home in flames.
Cook said no structures in the fire's path were safe.
"The entire footprint of the fire is still under threat," he said.
"We have several structures that are impacted by the fire. Hundreds are in the footprint of the fire."
The cause of the fire was under investigation, but Southern California Edison filed a report with state regulators that said it began near power lines owned by the utility, the Associated Press reported.
Melissa Giller, spokeswoman for the Reagan library, said flames started coming up the back part of the museum property at about 9 a.m. local time.
Giller described the harrowing scene to The Weather Channel late Wednesday morning.
"It got to about, within about 50 feet, of the Reagan library, to the outskirts. The firefighters threw water drops and on-ground firefighters were able to turn the fire around. But now, from what I’m seeing on the news and what I’m hearing is now the fire coming up the front side, the complete opposite of our property," Giller said.
A handful of employees were onsite monitoring the situation.
"They said that even though the fire is sort of circling the library, they still feel completely safe," Giller said. "The amount of water drops that the fire department is doing … they are dropping so much water that the museum building itself and all of our buildings are completely safe."
At the press conference, Cook said the immediate threat is expected to continue through the week.
"I would say the next couple of days could prove very busy for all fire resources in Southern California," he said.
Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen had this message for residents: "Pay attention to your media outlets and social media and be ready to leave. And when we ask you to leave, please leave immediately."
Residents and volunteers rushed to rescue horses, goats and other animals ahead of the fire. At least one large animal shelter was full, and spooked horses had to be coaxed into trailers.
“When they get agitated and excited, you have to be firm,” Fia Perera, who was dealing with her two horses and her 900-pound pig, told the Los Angeles Times. “If you’re panicky, they pick up on your energy.”
Many fled their homes with very few belongings in the rush to get safety. Cellphones buzzed with emergency messages and law enforcement officers went door to door telling people to leave.
"Everything started rolling so fast," Elena Mishkanian told the AP.
Simi Valley Schools announced that classes were canceled. Moorpark College and Moorpark Unified School District are also closed, as well as dozens of other schools in Ventura County that shut down due to power outages and the fire threat.
More than a million people remained without electricity Wednesday morning due to precautionary shutoffs aimed to prevent wildfires. Pacific Gas and Electric started shutting off power Tuesday to some 540,000 customers in parts of 27 counties, the utility said in a press release. Southern California Edison had cut electricity to about 40,000 customers and was warning another 300,000 could lose power.
All told, estimates say the outages affect more than 1.5 million people when taking into account household size and other factors.
"One of the things that gives us the most concern with this particular kind of weather is debris flying into equipment," Robert Villegas, a Southern California Edison spokesman, told The Weather Channel.
Villegas said most of the affected Southern California customers were in Ventura County where the Easy Fire was burning.
The outages come as some people are still without power from a similar outage over the weekend, or have just had their power restored.
The Easy Fire and the Hill Fire were two of several blazes that started Wednesday while others continued to burn, including the Getty Fire and the Kincade Fire.
Getty Fire
The Getty Fire began on the west side of the 405 freeway near the Getty Center about 1:30 a.m. Monday, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department. In a Tuesday afternoon press conference, Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti said the blaze was started when a tree branch was blown onto a power line by strong winds. The incident was captured on dashcam footage.
By Wednesday, it had spread to just over 1 square mile and threatened more than 7,000 structures. It was about 25% contained.
Evacuations were ordered from Mulholland Boulevard south to W. Sunset Boulevard, east to the 405 and west to Temescal Canyon Road. Monday afternoon, residents of the Mountaingate community on the eastern edge of the evacuation zone were told they could return home.
Twelve homes were destroyed in the fire and another five were damaged. More than 700 firefighters were on the scene.
Los Angeles Fire Department Chief Ralph Terraza said of the firefighters battling the Getty Fire, "They were literally overwhelmed. They had to make some tough decisions on which houses they were able to protect. Many times it depends upon where the ember lands."
Kincade Fire
In Northern California, firefighters appeared to be making headway on the Kincade Fire, which had burned nearly 120 square miles and was 30 percent contained as of Wednesday morning. The fire, which started on Oct. 23 near Geyserville, has destroyed at least 206 structures, including 94 homes.
More than 90,000 structures were threatened and 126,000 people were under evacuation orders, although many were allowed to return home Tuesday and Wednesday.
Two firefighters were injured on Sunday near the fire, including one that had to be airlifted due to his burns. He was taken to the UC Davis Medical Center and was listed in stable condition on Tuesday, according to a Cal Fire official speaking at a morning news conference. The second firefighter sustained minor burn injuries.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
The Weather Company’s primary journalistic mission is to report on breaking weather news, the environment and the importance of science to our lives. This story does not necessarily represent the position of our parent company, IBM.
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