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A Thousand Oaks, California – Forest fires broke out on both sides of California on Friday, killing at least nine people in the north, and authorities ordered evacuations in the south of the country, including in the area still under the shots fired at a country music bar the week.
The Woolsey fire exploded to over 14,000 acres after starting Thursday in a very dry canyon in Ventura County. The fire has spread to the Pacific Ocean and has resulted in mandatory evacuations of nearly 75,000 homes up to the Malibu coast.
On Friday afternoon, authorities opened the four lanes of the Pacific Coast Highway heading north to southbound traffic, to speed the flow of evacuees fleeing the path of the fire.
Smoke from Woolsey Fire Smoke in Malibu.
Photo:
Grant Denham and Cassie Denham
A site near Thousand Oaks, California, which had served as a family reunification center after Wednesday's shooting at the Borderline Bar & Grill, in which 12 people had been killed, is now used as an evacuation center for people fleeing the fire charred. the neighboring hills.
In Northern California, 70,000-acre camp fires, which began early Thursday, continued to threaten about 15,000 structures after destroying about 2,000 homes and other structures. It had already destroyed much of the city of Paradise, a community of about 27,000 inhabitants located at the foot of Sierra Nevada.
Double threat
In Northern California, the campfire is endangering thousands of structures after swallowing the city of Paradise. Meanwhile, two wildfires in southern California have burned acres near dense suburban areas.
Active forest fires from Friday
More than 1,000 homes and other structures are believed to have been destroyed, while dozens of people are still missing in a city of many retirees, where fire officials said many people could not flee quickly enough. Officials from the Butte County Sheriff's Office said five bodies were found in vehicles in an area of Paradise. Deputy Chief Scott McLean, of the California Department of Forests and Fire Protection, said residents were dead trying to escape the fire.
Officials on Friday announced at least nine deaths in the northern California fire, the Associated Press reported.
The authorities did not have an estimate of the total number of people who died. Others have warned that many of the missing may not be in touch and report later.
In Ventura County, another 6,000-acre forest fire called the Hill Fire also erupted on Thursday, in a less populated area, adding to the area's deep anxiety after mass shooting.
"It's like a brace for the people of Thousand Oaks," said Troy Slaten, a Borderline owner's lawyer.
The traffic disruption caused by the fire on the hill resulted in a delay of three to seven hours on Thursday for the victims of the shooting and the shooter to be taken to the Ventura County Medical Examiner's office in Ventura. officials.
"What more can we take?" Said Karissa Herbert, a 17-year-old high school girl who came to the evacuation center to drop her supplies and volunteer with two friends. The three people said that everyone they knew in this quiet, united community had a connection to the Borderline tragedy.
In late morning Friday, the teen center was home to 250 residents seeking shelter from evacuations.
Thursday night, the center remained silent before moving from housing to those seeking a word that said their loved ones were safe for those fleeing the fire. One of the evacuees was Rob McCoy, Mayor of Thousand Oaks and pastor who had consoled the families of the Teen Center after the shooting.
"We had to evacuate last night after a 24-hour day because of the shooting," McCoy said. "But my family is fine. We have everything with a heartbeat out of the house. "
The wildfire that started on Thursday in Paradise, California, damaged vehicles.
Photo:
Hector Amezcua / Zuma Press
Steven and Kathy Smith, who live next to scrubby hills in Thousand Oaks, have spent much of the day on Thursday making sure their school-aged sons' friends are taken into account after shooting. After discovering that none of them had gone to the bar, Mr. Smith said that he had fallen asleep.
"When I woke up, there was that certain orange cast that was part of a bundle of wildfires," said Mr Smith, 59, a consultant and aerospace engineer. "I thought:" Of all the things that are happening now, a forest fire. "
Lieutenant Governor Gavin Newsom, acting in the absence of Governor Jerry Brown, announced Friday the emergency proclamation of Los Angeles and Ventura counties following the Hill and Woolsey fires after being published Thursday in Butte. County to attend the campfire.
The fires broke out as California generally entered the rainy season, but this year the state was blocked by a high-pressure system that blocked the Pacific storms. At the same time, fire officials said that the state was still recovering from an extreme drought that lasted five years and left millions of trees weak and dead.
The fire called Camp Fire burned Thursday in the city of Paradise, Northern California.
Photo:
Neal Waters / Zuma Press
Mark Ghilarducci, director of the emergency services office of the governor of California, said Friday that the winds that ravaged the fires resume Sunday after a brief stay.
-Ian Lovett
and Erin Ailworth
contributed to this article.
Write to Sara Randazzo at [email protected] and Jim Carlton at [email protected]
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