A blazing firestorm is consuming mountainsides in Southern California in an explosive fashion. The fierce winds are providing the fuel the fire needs to maximize devastation causing 600 homes near Ventura and Santa Paula to be evacuated.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ThomasFire?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ThomasFire</a> updated acreage is 5000 acres. Incident commander expects this fire to impact the city of Ventura this evening. <a href="https://twitter.com/VCFD?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@VCFD</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/VCFD?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#VCFD</a></p>— VCFD PIO (@VCFD_PIO) <a href="https://twitter.com/VCFD_PIO/status/937919794950553600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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California fire officials confirmed that the fire broke out Monday east of Santa Paula, just 60 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles and millions of people. The flames spread nearly 8 square miles in hours and have caused at least one death due to an auto collision related to the fire.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mandatory evacuations for the Ondulando and Clear Point neighborhoods. Evacuation Center at the Ventura County… <a href="https://t.co/djp6NQWEDK">https://t.co/djp6NQWEDK</a></p>— Ventura Police (@Ventura_PD) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ventura_PD/status/937929039301566467?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Mandatory evacuations : All hillside neighborhoods above Foothill Road to the Poinsettia Pavilion.</p>— Ventura Police (@Ventura_PD) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ventura_PD/status/937941272609910784?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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Ventura is also in close proximity to the blaze at just 12 miles away and its home to 100,000 people who are expected to feel the effects of the fire very soon. Thomas Aquinas College is also nearby and is home to around 350 students who have also been evacuated.
Fire officials indicated two structures have been burned so far but it was not made known where that occurred. The National Weather Service says winds of 43 mph with gusts over 60 mph have been reported in the area. More evacuations are being reported every hour.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ThomasFire?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ThomasFire</a> - New evacuations being ordered for entire area of N Ventura Ave all from the 101 Fwy to Hwy 33.</p>— CA Fire Scanner (@CAFireScanner) <a href="https://twitter.com/CAFireScanner/status/937948844221898752?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2017</a></blockquote>
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So far there is no indication the winds will relent and the blaze may continue spreading.
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Source: http://katu.com/news/nation-world/southern-california-fire-forces-over-600-homes-to-evacuate
