Firefighters continued making progress Sunday against the destructive Mountain fire in Ventura County. The blaze, which has burned more than 20,000 acres and destroyed 134 structures, was about 26% contained early Sunday as firefighters continued mopping up hot spots before winds were expected to pick up again Monday night, authorities said.
Ten areas remained under evacuation orders Sunday, including neighborhoods around Santa Paula and Somis. An additional eight were under evacuation warnings, where residents were asked to prepare for a potential evacuation. Up-to-date information on evacuations was available at the Ventura County Sheriff Emergency Services Incident Dashboard.
“The impact on our community is profound and we are working tirelessly alongside firefighters from Ventura County and neighboring areas along with a vast amount of emergency services to bring this fire under control,” Capt. William Hutton, of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, said during a Saturday evening news conference.
Light winds coming from the ocean and favorable humidity levels Sunday helped authorities in the effort to contain the fire, which started Wednesday morning amid an extreme Santa Ana wind event. The blaze led thousands to evacuate and upended the lives of residents across a number of communities. The cause is still under investigation.
Officials said they were continuing to monitor changes in weather as winds were expected to pick up again Monday night through Tuesday morning — though they were not expected to be as bad as the strong winds that initially fueled the fire.
“It’s something that we’re watching closely,” said National Weather Service meteorologist Ryan Walbrun at a press conference late Saturday. “The wind speeds right now do not look to be nearly as strong as when the fire started.”
More than 130 structures have been destroyed in the fire, most of which are homes. An additional 46 have been damaged, said Justin Boyajian, with Cal Fire Tulare.
“We’re doing the best we can, trying to help as much as we can for people who have lost their homes,” Boyajian said.
About 500 customers were still without power in parts of Camarillo, Santa Paula and Somis, and it was not immediately clear when power would be restored, said David Eisenhauer, spokesman for Southern California Edison.
“We have to still safely get in there and assess damage and make repairs so it’s hard to tell right now,” he said. “We know this has been a really difficult time for [residents] and we’ll work as soon as we can safely get power restored to them.”
Residents were planning to gather Sunday night for a community meeting at Ventura County Fire Station 54 in Camarillo, where officials would answer questions from residents and update them on progress against the blaze.
Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said during the news conference late Saturday that he understood that people in the community were frustrated and in need of more information about what recovery would look like. The county is also planning to bring together various service providers Wednesday to help answer residents’ questions about the recovery process, he said. He urged patience while firefighters continued working to contain the blaze.
“We’re continuing to work diligently… to get this fire suppressed, to get things mopped up, to get things closed up and get things things ready for people to come back in,” Gardner said. “And that takes time.”
