Firefighters Continue Battle to Slow 2 Big Ventura County Wildfires

This story was most recently updated at 6:16 p.m. Friday.

Firefighters continued scrambling Friday night to slow the spread of two large wind-whipped wildfires in Ventura County that already had scorched thousands of acres, destroyed an unknown number of structures, and prompted widespread evacuations.

Hampered by a lack of resources, fire officials reported good progress during the day on the Hill Fire in the Camarillo area, but ongoing challenges taming the Woolsey Fire, which has now burned from Simi Valley down to the ocean in Malibu.

As of Friday afternoon, the Hill Fire had charred about 6,000 acres.

"We made good progress today and remain optimistic," Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen said at an afteroon press briefing.

Chief Daryl L. Osby of the Los Angeles County Fire Department offered a much more sobering assessment of the Woolsey Fire, which has blackened 35,000 acres and destroyed a "significant number of structures" after starting in Woolsey Canyon east of Simi Valley.

"Today's efforts have been very challenging," he said, noting that flames jumped south over Highway 101 in three locations: Westlake, Agoura and Calabasas.

He added that because of gusty winds and low visibility due to the smoke, aerial firefighting operations — air tankers laying down retardant and helicopters making water drops — had to be grounded for periods during the day.

Finally, he noted that fire managers are competing for resources with other major blazes in the state, including the big Camp Fire in Butte County, which has destroyed hundreds of structures and been blamed for nine deaths.

A Santa Barbara County Fire Department strike team responds to the Woolsey Fire burning in Ventura and Los Angeles counties, working in the Calabasas area Friday.  (David Neels / Santa Barbara County Fire Department photo)

Both the Hill Fire and the Woolsey Fire led to mass evacuations and Highway 101 closures overnight, but the roadway reopened to through traffic in the Camarillo area on Friday.

However, Highway 101 remained shut down Friday evening in the Agoura Hills area, according to authorities.

The Woolsey Fire was the more dangerous of the two blazes, and was burning south from the Simi Valley area toward the Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu and the ocean. It also was threatening community to the east, in the San Fernando Valley.

A lot of the resources assigned to the Hill Fire were transferred to the Woolsey Fire, which became the priority for firefighting efforts with heavy air support and more than 2,000 personnel working Friday. 

High winds and dry vegetation made the fires spread quickly, Ventura County fire officials said, and a red flag warning was in effect until 10 p.m. Friday, promising another day of dry, hot, windy weather. 

The Woolsey Fire has destroyed a significant number of structures and burned in the Malibu area Friday afternoon.  (Ray Ford / Noozhawk photo)

The Hill Fire started at 2 p.m. Thursday at Hill Canyon Road west of Santa Rosa Road, near Camarillo. It was burning in the same area impacted by the 2013 Springs Fire where there was "sparse fuel," fire officials said Friday. 

It was 0 percent contained and the cause was under investigation. 

Evacuation center locations, road closure and school closure information for the fires can be found on the Ventura County emergency page here. 

As of Friday morning, evacuation centers were set up at Thousand Oaks High School, at 2323 North Moorpark Road; the Borchard Community Center at 190 Reino Road in Newbury Park; and Camarillo Community Center at 1605 Burnley St. 

The Earl Warren Showgrounds in Santa Barbara, at 3400 Calle Real, was opening at noon Friday to accept large animals for evacuated residents, according to Ventura County officials. 

The blaze threatened several communities and institutions including the Point Mugu Naval Base and California State University, Channel Islands campus, according to authorities. Approximately 15,000 residents had been evacuated. 

Santa Barbara County fire agencies sent strike teams to help fight the Ventura County fires and local law enforcement agencies sent personnel south to help evacuate residents and staff road closures, sheriff's spokeswoman Kelly Hoover said Friday.

The Woolsey Fire has destroyed a significant number of structures and burned in the Malibu area Friday afternoon.  (Ray Ford / Noozhawk photo)

"The fires broke out less than 24 hours after a mass murder at a popular Thousand Oaks restaurant/bar, where the suspect killed 12 people including a 29-year veteran of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, Sgt. Ron Helus, before killing himself," Hoover said in a statement.

"The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office wants to provide as much support as possible to our partners and neighbors at the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office as they mourn the loss of their own and deal simultaneously with protecting their community members from the threat of wildfires." 

The Sheriff/Fire Air Support Unit deployed Copter 208 to do nighttime water drops on the fire. 

#WoolseyFire - The SBC 5-engine & one Battalion Chief Strike Team has been reassigned from the Hill Fire to the Woolsey Fire and is currently working off the Las Virgenes Road area. (Video by Capt Tim Gailey/SBC) pic.twitter.com/1wqyzXjUj8

— SBCFireInfo (@EliasonMike) November 9, 2018

Woolsey Fire 

The Woolsey Fire started around 2:25 p.m. Thursday and had destroyed a significant number of homes and other buildings as of Friday morning, according to authorities. 

Ventura and Los Angeles county agencies have a unified command of the incident, in addition to CalFire. 

The blaze burned an estimated 35,000 acres as of 5 p.m. and prompted mass evacuations of more than 75,000 homes in Ventura and LA counties. 

"Multiple homes have been destroyed throughout the fire area in both counties but there has been no damage assessment due to the fast moving nature and heavy resource commitment," Ventura County fire officials said in a 3 p.m. update Friday.

The Woolsey Fire was very active Friday afternoon in Westlake Village, Calabasas, Bell Canyon, and the area between Highway 101 and Pacific Coast Highway in the Malibu area, they said. 

It was 0 percent contained and the cause was under investigation. 

Evacuation center locations, road closure and school closure information for the fires can be found on the Ventura County emergency page here and through the county hotline at 805.465.6650.

Click here to check daily air quality reports from the Santa Barbara County Air Pollution Control District, and click here for information from Ventura County's Air Pollution Control District. 

"Smoke from the Woolsey and Hill fires in Ventura County and the Camp Fire in Butte County has the potential to start affecting our area, depending on wind and weather conditions," Santa Barbara County officials said Friday. 

"If you see or smell smoke, we recommend avoiding outdoor exercise and staying indoors until conditions improve. When driving, people should use the car’s recirculate feature to prevent
smoky air from entering the vehicle. People can also set up a 'clean air' room in their home by using a HEPA air purifier or attaching a HEPA filter to a box fan."

— Noozhawk managing editor Giana Magnoli can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) . Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.

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