As Los Angeles burns with fierce winds creating a storm of fire, Ventura County has warned residents that the Auto fire has sparked fresh evacuation orders.
Why It Matters
The raging wildfires across Los Angeles have killed at least 24 people and left thousands of people homeless, with USA Today reporting that more than 12,000 homes, businesses, schools and other buildings have been burned to the ground. Tens of thousands of people have been forced to evacuate and flee to safety.
News of a fresh blaze in Ventura named the Auto fire will be a fresh blow to Californians.
Newsweek has reached out to Ventura County Sherriff's Office by email seeking further information and comment about the latest blaze.
Where is the fire in Ventura County?
The blaze is burning by the Santa Clara River and the river bottom off North Ventura Boulevard. It was named the Auto fire due to its proximity to Auto Center Drive. The fire in Ventura is close to the neighborhood of South Bank in the city of Oxnard, California.
Footage shared from the scene by the Ventura County Fire Department (VCFD) showed a helicopter dumping water and shots of flames engulfing an area of brush. The clips were uploaded to X (formerly Twitter) on Monday night.
#autofire; Forward progress on the Auto fire has been stopped. The fire has been mapped at 55.7 acres with 0% containment.
Firefighters from #VCFD, Ventura City Fire, Oxnard Fire and Federal Fire Ventura County remain on scene mopping up hotspots and working to increase... pic.twitter.com/S3foYVhu9A
Is this related to the LA wildfires?
The wildfire is one of several blazes that have erupted across LA, with wind conditions making it almost impossible for fire crews to combat the flames and control the spread. Fire services are being stretched increasingly thinly given the fires raging across multiple fronts.
What To Know
The fire started at around 9.25 p.m. on Monday. Within minutes, by 9.30 p.m., the Auto fire had burned through about 5 acres and had a "moderate" rate of spread, according to local news channel ABC 10. But by 11.30 p.m. almost 56 acres had been razed and the fire remained at 0 percent containment, officials at VCFD said.
Some 75 firefighters were dispatched to the scene of the Auto fire in an attempt to tackle the blaze.
The Ventura County Sherriff's Office of Emergency Services is running an "incident dashboard" online showing all the key information residents need to know, including an interactive evacuation map, which can be accessed here, and viewed below.
Color-coded zones on the map also show evacuation warnings, along with "shelter in place" advisories, and areas where the evacuation restrictions have now been lifted. Street closures, shelters, and temporary evacuation points (TEPs) are included on the map too. The dashboard also shows areas where power has been shut down for safety purposes or where there have been outages.
The map shows the evacuation order area zoned in purple, with the words "Auto Fire - Zone 1." The "public notes" description of the area reads, "Evacuation of the river bottom due to brush fire." Land and brush on either side of the Santa Clara River are included within the order.
As it stands, the area does not appear to contain any residential homes, however, one long border of the evacuation zone runs along North Ventura Road where a neighborhood begins, and another border is also relatively close to buildings along Ventura Road and Auto Center Drive. The Ventura Freeway sits along another border. Oxnard is the most populous city in Ventura County with more than 202,000 residents recorded living there in 2020.
What People Are Saying
The public information officer of VCFD said on X: "Forward progress on the Auto fire has been stopped. The fire has been mapped at 55.7 acres with 0% containment. Firefighters from #VCFD, Ventura City Fire, Oxnard Fire and Federal Fire Ventura County remain on scene mopping up hotspots and working to increase containment. The fire was confined to the river bottom and no structures were threatened. The cause of the fire Is under investigation."
An X user who identified himself as a witness called Justin Brown replied to the VCFD's post to say: "Being in the area when the fire started, saw the flames rising, the fire trucks swarm from all directions, the air support descend, and the swift coordination. The fire was surrounded in minutes. You can't ask for more than that. Stay safe and Godspeed. Ventura thanks you."
What Happens Next
Fire crews will continue to fight the blaze as the city of Oxnard, and the rest of LA, face another fire burn on the back of the wildfires engulfing California since last week.
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