Firefighters have been battling a fast-moving blaze in Southern California’s Oxnard in Ventura County on Monday night with winds expected to quicken into Tuesday.
Footage of the blaze showed the Auto Fire spreading near River Ridge Golf Course around 8 p.m. on Monday night, which prompted authorities to issue an evacuation order for the “Santa Clara River between Ventura Road and Victoria Avenue,” according to KTLA.
“Immediate threat to life,” officials said. “This is a lawful order to LEAVE NOW. The area is lawfully closed to public access.”
Despite the evacuation order, officials said that the fire is contained by the riverbed for the time being and poses no threat to residential structures. Per KTLA:
County officials said Victoria Avenue was closed between Gonzales Road and Olivas Park Drive as of 9:30 p.m., asking drivers to avoid the area and seek alternative routes.
The California Highway Patrol incident page reported seeing a large fire breaking out in the Santa Clara River bottom at around 7:15 p.m. near Ventura Road and Auto Center Drive.
Approximately 75 firefighters with the Ventura County Fire and Oxnard Fire departments were on the scene of the 5-acre Auto Fire, with officials noting on social media that the blaze is “medium fuels with a moderate rate of spread.”
BREAKING: A fast moving, wind driven brush fire is racing West along the Santa Clara riverbed between Ventura and Oxnard, toward Victoria Ave bridge. 3 helicopters assigned to the #AutoFire pic.twitter.com/bBZJNTCzU0
— Chris Cristi (@abc7chriscristi) January 14, 2025
Oh boy #AutoFire pic.twitter.com/x1KyLEX3Ua
— gjoeyjoe (@gjoeyjoe) January 14, 2025
The fire comes just under one week after Los Angeles suffered a devastating blaze that leveled most of the Pacific Palisades and large portion of Altadena just above Pasadena. Authorities have warned that wildfires in Southern California could be exacerbated on Tuesday with the return of extreme Santa Ana winds.
“With high pressure building over the Great Basin (an area around Nevada, Utah and Idaho), Santa Ana winds are set to strengthen again over the next few days.
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Winds blowing in from the east or north-east, are set to peak on Tuesday, with gusts up to 70mph (112km/h) possible,” noted the BBC.
“But the strongest winds will be to the north and east of Los Angeles, including the counties of Ventura and Los Angeles. However, the wind will not reach the Palisades and Eaton fires, which are more than 40 miles (64 km) away,” it added.
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