‘Particularly dangerous situation’ fire warning now in effect in L.A., Ventura counties
The “particularly dangerous situation” fire weather warning for swaths of Los Angeles and Ventura counties is now in effect.
The designation, signifying an extreme red flag warning, went into effect Tuesday at 4 a.m. and will last through noon Wednesday. On Monday night, a peak wind gust of up to 57 mph has been reported in the mountains near the city of Ventura, and after midnight Tuesday, a gust of 54 mph was detected in the San Gabriel Mountains.
Areas covered by the latest alert include Camarillo, Fillmore, Northridge, Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks.
A conventional red flag warning — for a combination of strong winds, dry air and vegetation, and expected severe wildfire behavior if ignition occurs — is in effect across the region, including large portions of L.A., San Diego, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties, as well as some mountainous areas of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties.
This event will be a more conventional Santa Ana, with winds coming out of the east and spreading fires to the west. That means the winds will have more of a focus on Ventura County compared with those last week, which came generally out of the north and hit Los Angeles County hard.
Overnight, firefighters responded to a fire in the riverbed of the Santa Clara River, along the border of Ventura and Oxnard, located near Auto Center Drive.
Firefighters after midnight said forward progress on the Auto fire has been stopped. The fire was 0% contained and burned about 56 acres. Firefighters overnight continued to mop up hotspots and worked to increase containment, officials said.
