Trump approves California disaster declaration as firefighters battle flames in Ventura and San Diego counties
Current Time 0:13
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Duration Time 0:56
Wildfires
fanned by sustained Santa Ana winds continued to wreak havoc across
Southern California on Friday as blazes in San Diego and Ventura
counties destroyed more than 500 structures, sent more than 120,000
people fleeing for their lives and left thousands without power.
In
northern San Diego County, the Lilac fire continued to burn Friday
morning, holding at 4,100 acres from the night before. The blaze, which
roared through Bonsall and into Oceanside late Thursday, has injured at least three people and killed 25 horses at a thoroughbred training center.
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"We
are in no way near the end of this," warned Ron Lane, the county's
deputy chief administrative officer who oversees public safety. On
Friday morning, Cal Fire said the wildfire had burned 4,100 acres and
destroyed 65 structures.
President
Trump approved a California disaster declaration Friday morning. He
ordered federal aid to the area and put the Department of Homeland
Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency in charge of
disaster relief efforts.
The
Lilac fire is one of a half-dozen major fires burning across Ventura,
San Diego, Los Angeles and Riverside counties, and comes as the National Weather Service extended a red-flag fire warning to Sunday.
Of
all those fires, the Thomas fire in Ventura County is still the
largest, spanning 132,000 acres from Santa Paula to the coast. It was
10% contained as of Friday morning, authorities said.
The
winds Thursday night were "down into the teens and 20s as opposed to
previous nights we had winds in the 30- and 40-mile-per-hour" range,
said Ventura County Fire Capt. Scott Dettorre. Weaker winds are expected
to continue Friday, he said.
"It's still high but for us at this point, that's a breeze," Dettorre said.
If
winds do act as predicted, "our air operations will be more effective
and obviously the fire spread rate will slow down," he added. "It'll
give the ground troops a chance to get ahead of this thing."
Throughout the county, 439 structures were destroyed — 427 of those were in the city of Ventura, Dettorre said.
Officials
still have not identified or reported a cause of death for a woman who
was found in the Thomas fire burn area, at the scene of a car accident.
The
Thomas fire is mostly burning at either end of the perimeter, Dettorre
said. Northeast Santa Ana winds continued pushing flames west toward the
La Conchita area, while topography is offering fuel to the fire on the
eastern end, Dettorre said. The fire has already encroached into the Los
Padres National Forest above Ojai, and could do the same on the eastern
end near Fillmore, he said.
Santa
Barbara County Fire Department officials said the Thomas fire had not
reached their county as of Thursday evening, but added that residents
should remain prepared in case it does.
The
air quality in Carpinteria is considered "hazardous," said Polly
Baldwin, medical director at the Santa Barbara County Public Health
Department.
"Hazardous is the worst classification that air quality has," she said, urging residents to wear face masks when outside.
By
midnight Thursday, San Diego County county officials confirmed that
they had called more than 100,000 phone numbers to issue evacuation
orders or warnings through AlertSanDiego, a regional notification system.
As of about 12:30 a.m. Friday, approximately 578 people had checked into evacuations centers, a county spokeswoman said.
As night fell, a shopping center was being consumed by the blaze.
At
the Rancho Monserate Country Club, a swath of upscale mobile homes
bordering a golf course had already been reduced to ash and twisted
metal.
In Los Angeles County, firefighters on Thursday night took advantage of the calmest winds they've seen in days.
The
15,323-acre Creek fire near Sylmar was 40% contained as of Friday
morning, and no more structures were threatened, authorities said.
At
least 63 homes and other structures have been destroyed and an
additional 45 damaged, though officials expect that number to increase
as damage assessment crews continue to survey the area, said L.A. City
Fire Capt. Branden Silverman.
As of 4 p.m. Thursday, residents were allowed back into their neighborhoods, except Limekiln Canyon, Silverman said.
The
Skirball fire in the Los Angels neighborhood of Bel Air was 30%
contained and at 475 acres as of Thursday night, said, Los Angeles City
Fire Capt. Cody Weireter. Six homes have been destroyed and a dozen
damaged in the fire, authorities said. Some residents have been allowed
back into their homes.
On
Thursday night and Friday morning, "they had flareups here and there …
but they were able to quickly extinguish them and knock those down,"
Weireter said.
As
of Friday morning, the Liberty fire in Murrieta was at 300 acres and
60% contained. One structure and seven outbuildings were destroyed,
authorities said.
On
Friday morning, Southern California Edison said that more than 11,000
of its customers were without power due to fires throughout the region.
Staff writers Joseph Serna and Laura Nelson contributed to this report. The San Diego Union-Tribune contributed to this report.
Twitter: @Sonali_Kohli.
UPDATES:
9 a.m.: This story was updated with the president's declaration.
This story was originally published at 8:40 a.m.
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