Important Takeaways:
- Firefighters in California gained a foothold in the battle against a wildfire north of Los Angeles while weather officials on Tuesday issued red flag warnings across the Northeast where blazes turned deadly over the weekend.
- The Mountain Fire in California’s Ventura County burned 20,630 acres of land as of Tuesday, an amount it has held near for several days after 80 mph winds fueled its explosive growth last week. As winds slowed, firefighters managed to bring the containment level to 42%, allowing officials to downgrade several evacuation orders. The fire has torched nearly 200 homes and businesses, injured six people and threatened thousands of structures.
- In the Northeast, weather officials issued red flag warnings from New Jersey to Massachusetts after a bout of modest weekend rainfall failed to douse the region’s wildfire threat.
- The rain helped firefighters gain some control over the Jennings Creek wildfire along the New Jersey-New York border, which has engulfed 3,500 acres and was 20% contained by Monday night. In anticipation of Tuesday’s winds and dry conditions, fire officials fortified control lines along the blaze’s east side.
- Some 82 brush fires were being monitored across Connecticut…
- Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont declared a Stage 2 drought advisory for all eight counties in Connecticut over the weekend, citing “far below normal precipitation levels and ongoing fire danger levels statewide,” according to a statement from his office.
- In Massachusetts, officials said firefighters were battling dozens of wildfires throughout the state. In October, the state’s Department of Fire Service recorded 200 wildland fires, a 1,200% increase from the month’s average total of 15 fires.
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Important Takeaways:
- Satellite imagery of a large fire burning outside of Los Angeles shows dozens of homes that were destroyed as Santa Ana winds helped drive the flames of the Mountain Fire.
- CAL FIRE estimates that more than 20,000 acres have burned, fueled by what officials described as favorable weather conditions.
- “The fire began in the Somis area and was driven by winds into the Camarillo Heights and the Camarillo Estates areas, where numerous homes were damaged or destroyed. Fire remains active on the northeast portion of the fire, moving downslope towards the Santa Clara River…All evacuation orders and warnings remain in place due to the extreme fire danger. Residents are strongly encouraged to heed the warnings and orders,” the agency said in a statement.
- So far, no life-threatening injuries have been reported among firefighters or residents fleeing the flames.
- According to emergency management, more than 10,000 homes and businesses were under evacuation alerts around Ventura County as the fire quickly spread through the hills of South California.
- Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency in Ventura County due to the large wildfire.
- The cause of the Mountain Fire is still unknown, but authorities are working to determine if utility lines played any role in its ignition.
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Important Takeaways:
- A fast-moving wildfire fueled by heavy winds was tearing through a community northwest of Los Angeles for a second day Thursday after destroying dozens of homes and forcing thousands of residents to flee when it exploded in size in only a few hours.
- The Mountain Fire prompted evacuation orders Wednesday for more than 10,000 people as it threatened 3,500 structures in suburban communities, ranches and agricultural areas around Camarillo, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.
- The fire was at 0% containment late Wednesday, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.
- Officials in several Southern California 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.
- The Mountain Fire was burning in a region that has seen some of California’s most destructive fires over the years.
- The fire grew from less than half of a square mile to more than 16 square miles in little more than five hours.
- First responders pleaded with residents to evacuate. Deputies made contact with 14,000 people to urge them to leave as embers spread for miles and sparked new flames.
- Meanwhile to the south, Los Angeles County Fire Department crews were scrambling 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 Broad Fire.
- By late Wednesday, the fire was at 60% containment and its forward progress was stopped, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said in a statement. Fire officials said two structures burned.
- With predicted gusts up to 50 mph and humidity levels as low as 9%, parts of Southern California could experience conditions ripe for “extreme and life-threatening” fire behavior into Thursday, the weather service said. Wind gusts topped 61 mph on Wednesday.
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