Hundreds flee and homes burn as powerful winds feed wildfires in Southern California

MOORPARK, Calif. (AP) — California was lashed by powerful winds Wednesday that fed a fast-moving wildfire that destroyed dozens of homes and forced hundreds of residents to flee as forecasters warned of the potential for "extreme and life-threatening" blazes.

Northwest of Los Angeles, the Mountain Fire exploded in size and prompted evacuation orders for suburban communities, ranches and agricultural areas near Santa Paula in southern Ventura County. A thick plume of smoke rose hundreds of feet into the sky, blanketing whole neighborhoods and limiting visibility for firefighters and evacuees.

At around 9:15 a.m. the blaze was mapped at just under 250 acres (100 hectares), and by 2:45 p.m. it was nearly 42 times larger at over 16 square miles (62 square kilometers).

The erratic winds grounded fixed-wing aircraft because of “very dangerous” conditions caused by gusts topping 61 mph (98 kph), said weather service meteorologist Bryan Lewis. He said pilots could encounter turbulence capable of bringing a plane down, as well limited visibility from the smoke. Water-dropping helicopters were still flying.

Several people were injured and taken to hospitals, the Ventura County Fire Department said, but it was not immediately clear how they got hurt.

Aerial footage from local television networks showed dozens of homes in flames across several neighborhoods as embers were whipped from home to home. Other footage captured horses trotting alongside evacuating vehicles and golf carts.

Andrew Dowd, a Ventura County fire spokesperson, said he did not have details of how many structures had been damaged.

Gus Garcia, who owns a ranch south of the fire, said he's waiting to see whether conditions will change to decide if he should evacuate his horses and cattle. Around 12:30 p.m., his animals were still safe and he was trying to stay out of the way as others got their livestock out.

His ranch is surrounded by others with horses and alpaca, and Garcia said his neighbors in the canyon did not seem panicked.

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

Meanwhile to the south, Los Angeles County Fire Department crews scrambled to contain a wildfire near Malibu’s Broad Beach as authorities briefly shut down the Pacific Coast Highway as flames burned near multimillion-dollar properties. Residents were urged to shelter in place while aircraft dropped water on the 50-acre (20-hectare) Broad Fire. It was 15% contained around 12:30 p.m. with forward progress stopped. Fire officials said two structures burned.

The National Weather Service office for the Los Angeles area amended its red flag warning for increased fire danger with a rare "particularly dangerous situation" label, and officials in several counties urged residents to be on watch for fast-spreading blazes, power outages and downed trees amid the latest round of notorious Santa Ana winds.

With predicted gusts between 50 mph (80 kph) and 100 mph (160 kph) and humidity levels as low as 8%, parts of Southern California could experience conditions ripe for “extreme and life-threatening” fire behavior into Thursday, the weather service said.

Forecasters also issued red flag warnings until Thursday from California's central coast through the San Francisco Bay Area and into counties to the north, where strong winds were also expected.

Utilities in California began powering down equipment during 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. On Wednesday, more than 65,000 customers in Southern California were without power preventatively, and upwards of 20,000 in Northern California.

The Broad Fire was burning in the same area where in 2018 the Woolsey Fire killed three people and destroyed 1,600 homes. That blaze was sparked by Edison equipment that scorched dry grasslands and burned across the Santa Monica Mountains all the way to the Malibu coast.

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Dazio and Weber reported from Los Angeles. Associated Press journalists Ryan Pearson in Los Angeles, Amy Taxin in Orange County, California, and Olga Rodriguez in San Francisco contributed to this report.