Light winds and cooler temperatures have allowed firefighters to slow the growth of a wildfire in Simi Valley that has forced tens of thousands of residents from their homes, fire officials said.
As crews made progress against the Sandy fire after sunset Monday evening, authorities began lifting evacuation warnings for some areas.
Four areas that were under evacuation warnings north and west of the fire saw those warnings lifted after 9 p.m. Monday, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Emergency Service website.
Many other neighborhoods in the area remain threatened and under evacuation orders after sunrise, however.
“We don’t want to get complacent,” said Andrew Dowd, a spokesman for the Ventura County Fire Department. “This is the time to dig … because that fire behavior increases when and when.”
The Sandy Fire in Ventura County started shortly before 11 a.m. Monday from Sandy Avenue and raced toward nearby homes within minutes, destroying one. It burned 1,386 acres as of Tuesday morning and was 5% contained.
As smoke and flames billowed from the blaze, authorities began issuing evacuation warnings before leaving on Monday. At one point, about 28,000 people were under evacuation orders, officials said.
As of Tuesday morning, that number hovered around 17,000 residents, Dowd said.
However, an evacuation alert in Ventura County was in effect for areas around Agoura Hills, Calabasas, Hidden Hills, Chatsworth, West Hills and the Lake Manor area. Los Angeles County exits are listed on the county’s site. Information about evacuations in Ventura County is available on their website.
On Monday, the Los Angeles Fire Department deployed resources to the San Fernando Valley in case the fire gets out of control.
“While the Sandy Fire is in Ventura County, the Los Angeles Fire Department continues to closely monitor the situation and has deployed resources on the ground – including strike teams, hand crews, and helicopters – to assist local crews in firefighting efforts,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said in a statement. “At this time, we do not expect the wildfire to reach the City of Los Angeles.”
Wind-driven fires in dryland are especially dangerous, as several fast-moving wildfires in the past two years have shown.
Winds were gusting 25 to 35 mph in the valleys, and reaching 40 mph on hilltops in the fire area, Devin Black, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard, said of conditions in Simi Valley Monday.
Tuesday was expected to be less windy, with gusts of 25 to 35 mph, but warm and dry, said Ryan Kittell, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Oxnard. High temperatures are expected to reach 83 to 86 degrees, with humidity between 8% and 12%, he said.
He said the winds were expected to move from the north-east of the sea to the south-west and the coast around 3 pm, he said. The change could cause shifting winds, which could boost fire activity and send the plume growing faster, he said.
On Monday evening, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that his office has received fire management assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to strengthen the response to the Sandy fires. Local, state and federal agencies will be able to apply for reimbursement of 75% of their eligible firefighting costs.
The fire — one of several that have recently broken out in Southern California, including a fire that burned 16,600 acres on Santa Rosa Island — came as the region sits on the precipice of its fire season.
While “there’s no absolute on/off switch” that determines when that season starts, fire agencies track vegetation moisture levels, which are the main drivers of regional fire activity, Kittell said.
“Currently, the latest readings show that we are close to when most plants are ready to burn,” he said. “It’s still a bit of a mixed bag, but we’re getting really close.”
