The massive Thomas Fire in Ventura County, California grew to 90,000 acres with 5 percent containment reported on December 7.
Cal Fire wrote, “The fire continues to burn actively with extreme rates of spread and long range spotting when pushed by winds. The fire is established on the north and east side of Hwy 150 and is also burning on the west side of Hwy 30. The fire has pushed northwest of Ventura and has reached the Hwy 101. Firefighters continue to work aggressively to protect life and property while working on control efforts around the fire perimeter.” A slew of mandatory and voluntary evacuations have resulted. You can see a list of the most updated information here.
You can see a map below from CalFire for the mandatory evacuations due to the Thomas Fire. CNN reported that thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes because of what the network “called an immense, incredibly fast-moving brush fire pushed by howling Santa Ana winds” that “scorched parts of Ventura County.” CNN reported that some homes were on fire in the City of Ventura.
According to CalFire on December 7:
MANDATORY EVACUATIONS
• City of Santa Paula – Boundary of Say Road north to Thomas Aquinas, Dickenson Ranch Road east to Santa Paula Creek
• City of Santa Paula – Boundary of Monte Vista Street north to city limits, Foothill Road from Steckel to Peck Road to north of city limits
• Santa Paula unincorporated area towards Ventura- North of Foothill Road from Peck Road to Wells Road including: Wheeler Canyon, Aliso Canyon and Rancho Vista
• City of Ventura – Teloma east to Brent Street, Telegraph Road north to north of Foothill Road
• City of Ventura – Victoria Road east to Hill Road, Telegraph Road north to Foothill Road
• City of Ventura – North Ashwood Avenue east to Hill Road, Telegraph Road north to Foothill Road
• City of Ventura – North of Foothill Road from Wells Road to Poli Street
• City of Ventura – North of Main Street from Seward Avenue to Hwy 33 (includes entire Ventura Avenue area)
• Oak View – Boundary of Hwy 33, Creek Road and Hermosa Road
• Entire Community of Casitas Springs – Evacuate to Ventura County Fairgrounds – 10 West Harbor Blvd., Ventura
• East Ojai Valley – Carne Road east to McAndrew Road, Reeves Road north to Thacher Road
• Upper Ojai Valley – Hwy 150 from Dennison Grade east to Osborne Road and all residences north
• Ventura County North Coast Area – Boundary of Hwy 33 on the north to Casitas Vista Road, northwest to Hwy 150, Hwy 150 (Casitas Pass Road) west to US 101 and south on US 101 (including Pacific Coast Highway) to Emma Wood State Beach
VOLUNTARY EVACUATIONS
• Residents in the City of Ventura, south of Loma Vista, east of Day Road, West of Victoria Avenue and north of Telegraph Road
• Residents in the City of Ventura, east of Victoria north of Loma Vista South of Foothill west of Wells Road
• All residents of the Ojai Valley not currently covered under the current mandatory evacuation
• City of Fillmore – Boundary of 2nd Street north to 4th Street & Island View Street east to Pole Creek
• City of Fillmore – Boundary of 4th Street on the south to Pole Canyon Road, Pole Canyon Road northeast to Goodenough Road, Goodenough Road south to 5th Street and 5th Street southeast to 4th Street
• City of Fillmore – Boundary of Hwy 23 & the Santa Clara River south to Guiberson Road, Guiberson Road east to Torrey Road and Torrey Road north to the Santa Clara River
EVACUATION SHELTERS City of Ventura – Ventura County Fairgrounds at Miners Building (Red Cross – Includes an Animal Shelter for all types of animals) – 10 W Harbor Blvd, Ventura, CA 93001
City of Ojai – Nordhoff High School (Red Cross) -1401 Maricopa Hwy, Ojai, CA 93023
City of Oxnard – Oxnard College Gymnasium (Red Cross)- Open 12/5/17, 0700
City of Santa Paula – Santa Paula Community Center (City of SP run shelter) – Open 0800
City of Fillmore – Veteran’s Memorial Bldg (City of Fillmore run shelter), 511 2nd Street – Will be open 12/6/17, 0800 hrs
UC Santa Barbara – Santa Barbara Multi Activity Center, 552 University Road, Santa Barbara, CA
The Ventura County Fire was moving incredibly rapidly. According to CNN, “By early Tuesday (December 5), the fire was burning at a rate of nearly an acre per second. At that speed, it would have covered Manhattan’s Central Park in about 15 minutes.” CalFire lists the following evacuation shelters for what is technically called the Thomas Fire:
CalFire reports that the fire started around 6:30 p.m. on December 4 and responding agencies are CAL FIRE, Ventura County Fire, City of Ventura, Los Padres National Forest, and the Ventura County Sheriff. Road closures were listed on December 5 as continuing to impact Highway 150 and Highway 33, as well as many other city and county roads.
A house burns to the ground during the Thomas wildfire in Ventura, California on December 5, 2017.
ROAD CLOSURES: Road closures continue to impact Highway 150 and Highway 33, as well as many other city and county roads.
Per California Highway Patrol:
Hard Closure- SR-150 at Reeves Road (east end Ojai Valley)
Hard Closure – SR-150 at Stonegate (Santa Paula)
Hard Closure – SR 150 at Telegraph Road (Santa Paula)
Hard Closure – SR 150 at Richmond Road (Santa Paula)
Hard Closure – Foothill Road at Olive/Cummings/Wells/Briggs (Santa Paula/Ventura area)
BREAKING UPDATES:
Ojai Area – Traffic is currently open for Hwy 150 (Casitas Pass Road) to US 101 (Carpenteria)
Casitas Springs area – Creek Road north of Hwy 33 closed.
You can see active fires in California via the CalFire updated web map:
The Thomas Fire is just one of three wildfires that ignited in Southern California. “Three major fires are raging in Southern California. The first, the Thomas fire in Ventura County, started last night and exploded overnight. The second, the Creek fire, started at 4 a.m. near Sylmar. A third fire, the Rye fire, erupted in Santa Clarita shortly before 10 a.m.” December 5, according to The Los Angeles Times. California’s governor has declared a state of emergency for Ventura County.