A brush fire driven by gusty winds that have plagued Southern California all week exploded rapidly Thursday north of San Diego, destroying dozens of trailer homes in a retirement community and killing race horses at an elite training facility.
The fire expanded to 10 square kilometres in a matter of hours and tore through the tightly packed Rancho Monserate Country Club community in the small city of Fallbrook, known for its avocado orchards and horse ranches. At least two people were hospitalised with burns.
The destructive blaze broke out as fire-fighters tried to corral the largest fire in the state that was burning around Ventura 209 kilometres to the north and destroyed 430 buildings as it grew to 466 square kilometres. Fire crews were also fighting large fires around Los Angeles, but they made enough progress to lift most evacuation orders.
Like other fires that have broken out this week, Fallbrook has a history of destructive blazes. Ten years ago, as a series of fires raced across Southern California, a blaze in Fallbrook injured five people, destroyed 206 homes and burned 36 square kilometres.
Thursday’s fire prompted the closure of state Highway 76 in both directions and evacuations in an area near the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base. Evacuation centres were set up in schools and casinos.
Jim Peratt was in Las Vegas on business when his wife called and said she was rounding up their two horses and evacuating their property in Bonsall, a community of 4,000 amid the rolling hills of rural San Diego County.
“She saw nothing but smoke and flames all around,” Peratt said. “I’m praying I’ll have a home when I get back. I’m just waiting to hear.”
As the flames approached the elite San Luis Rey Downs training facility for thoroughbreds, many of the more than 450 horses were cut loose to prevent them from being trapped in their stalls if barns caught fire, said Mac McBride of the Del Mar Thoroughbred Club.
“I don’t know how many are living and how many are dead,” he said. “I guess I’ll have to figure that out in the morning.”
Most of the horses were saved, McBride said, and were being loaded to go to the Del Mar Fairgrounds.
Some ranchers posted urgent pleas on Twitter for help moving horses, including Rawhide Ranch, well-known for running horse riding camps for children and teens.
The fire and a smaller one 19 kilometres north in the city of Murrieta broke out the day after state officials sent an unprecedented alert to cell phones across seven Southern California counties warning that strong Santa Ana winds could cause extreme fire danger. Although hurricane-force winds predicted did not materialize, fire-fighters faced gusts that fanned flames and put thousands of homes in jeopardy.
Along the coast between Ventura and Santa Barbara, tiny beach communities were under siege as fire leapt from steep hillsides across U.S. Highway 101.
“We drove through a wall of flames,” Wendy Frank said, describing her ordeal after evacuating her horses from Ojai on Wednesday night. “I didn’t know if we’d make it. I just put the accelerator down. I know we were going over 100 mph, we could have been going much more, and just hoped for the best.”
Fires flared up Thursday along the highway, forcing an evacuation of the dozens of homes at Faria Beach.
“Anyone in your homes still, you need to leave now,” a California Highway Patrol officer said through a loudspeaker while driving down a smoke-shrouded street. “The fire is here, you need to leave.”
Joseph Ruffner had left earlier in the week but returned and said he was staying put this time.
“This morning there was a wall of fire back right over here,” he said. “I didn’t think it was no big deal, but it’s coming back to burn what it didn’t burn yesterday.”
The highway, which runs the length of the state and is a major commuter corridor to Los Angeles, was closed intermittently along the 45-kilometre stretch between Ventura and Santa Barbara.
The Ventura and LA-area fires have put tens of thousands of people under evacuation orders and destroyed nearly 200 homes and buildings, a figure almost certain to rise.
A woman was found dead in a wrecked car in an evacuation zone near the city of Santa Paula, where the Ventura County blaze began Monday night, but officials could not immediately say whether the accident was fire-related.
The massive fire threatened Ojai, a scenic mountain town dubbed “Shangri-La” and known for its boutique hotels and New Age spiritual retreats.
Most of Ojai’s 7,000 residents were warned to clear out late Wednesday and patients unable to walk were moved from the Ojai Valley Community Hospital because of unprecedented, hurricane-force Santa Ana winds in the overnight forecast.
Ash fell like snowflakes on citrus orchards scattered around town and on Spanish-style architecture as fire-fighters parked their trucks around houses in anticipation of winds picking back up.
Some businesses were closed, but staples could be found at Pat’s Liquor, where Hank Cheyne-Garcia loaded up with supplies to fuel through another edgy night keeping sentry on the fire.
“It got a little too intense yesterday with the wind kicking up,” he said. “There was just so much smoke. Yesterday you couldn’t see the street.”
