More than 10,000 people have been told to evacuate as a “dangerously fast” wildfire engulfs homes near Los Angeles for a second day.
At least 800 firefighters and dozens of helicopters were battling the blaze, which has torn across 14,000 acres, fanned by hurricane-strength winds, blanketing towns and cities in smoke.
Ventura County, north-west of Los Angeles, remains under an “extremely critical” wildfire warning, with 3,500 homes and buildings threatened, said Governor Gavin Newsom.
Videos showed residents scrambling to evacuate their homes in the city of Camarillo, which has a population of 70,000 people. Footage also showed luxury homes and cars engulfed in flames.
At least two people were injured by the fire, the Ventura County fire department said, adding that it did not know how many building had been destroyed.
Officials said they were using all resources, including water-dropping helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft dropping fire retardant, but the fire was still burning out of control.
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“Every helicopter, every fixed wing aircraft, everything we’ve been able to get a hold of is here fighting this fire, and it is moving at a dangerous rate,” Dustin Gardner, the Ventura County fire chief, said on Wednesday.
“Bushes are burning, grass is burning, hedgerows are burning, agricultural fields are burning, and structures are burning. This fire is moving dangerously fast.”
Gail Liacko said she had to flee her home very suddenly on what had appeared to be a “normal morning”.
“All of a sudden there was soot on our patio furniture, coming from the front of the house as well as the back, and the smoke was kind of surrounding our street,” she said.
She explained that she and her husband quickly began to get ready to leave, adding: “It was just very surreal. You just don’t know what to pack in a moment of absolute panic.”
The fire expanded in size on Wednesday after powerful winds came into contact with very dry air.
Meanwhile, to the south, Los Angeles County Fire Department crews were scrambling to contain a wildfire in Malibu.
Authorities briefly shut down the Pacific Coast Highway as the fire burned near multi million-dollar properties. Residents were urged to shelter in place while aircraft dropped water on the 50-acre fire.
By late on Wednesday, the fire was at 60 per cent containment and its forward progress was stopped, the Los Angeles County Fire Department said in a statement.
The US is experiencing a strong wildfire year, with 8.1 million acres burned to date. California wildfires have so far burned more than three times as much land as last year at this time when the state’s fire season was more benign, according to Cal Fire data.
