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Wildfire near Los Angeles raves on after 10,000 evacuate

After requiring thousands of Californians to leave and burning more than 100 structures, a. stubborn wildfire burning northwest of Los Angeles on Friday. challenged firefighting crews working to snuff it out even as. strong winds in the location calmed.

Overnight, the area blistered by the blaze - dubbed the. Mountain Fire - stayed at about 20,000 acres (8,100 hectares). in Ventura County. Containment was approximated at 7%, compared. with 5% on Thursday, Cal Fire said in an event update.

The fire is burning in high, rugged terrain, with dry and. responsive fuels, which have challenged containment efforts, the. company stated. Fire activity moderated due to the decrease in. winds over the fire.

Cal Fire included that the fire remained a danger to vital. infrastructure and that islands of unburned fuel would continue. to burn within its footprint.

Among those who lost a home to the blaze is Dennis Gottlieb. of Ventura County. He counted himself lucky to be alive as he. waited early on Friday morning at a shelter at Padre Serra. Parish Catholic Church in Camarillo, California, wondering what. to do next. He lost whatever however his truck.

It was windy, genuine windy, however that's all, so I just began. my regular day up until I saw the smoke and then the fire, he. stated. Gottlieb got some garden hoses and thought he could. keep the blaze far from your home if needed.

All of a sudden the smoke got genuine heavy and cinders were falling. all around, he said. It was hot, real hot, like 150 degrees. ( 65 C). So I got the keys to my truck, he stated. He and his. partner, Linda Fellerman, hardly made it out. One road was obstructed. by a fallen tree up until a next-door neighbor with a chainsaw cut it away.

He went back on Thursday to see if he might restore any. mementos however said Everything is gone. All gone. Burned up.

A red flag caution stayed in result for the area till at. least 11 a.m. when winds were expected to calm to less than 15. miles per hour (24 kph) and humidity was due to climb, the. National Weather Service stated.

On Thursday, more than 10,000 people were ordered to. evacuate from areas near Camarillo, about 45 miles. ( 724ed4e km) down the Pacific Coast from Santa Barbara. Later on some homes were fired by coal blown from the. fire as winds gusted up to 80 mph (130 kph).

More than 130 structures were lost in the fire, the Los. Angeles Times reported.

The only thing left standing of our home is the 2. chimneys, resident Darren Kettle informed the newspaper. My heart. dropped to my stomach. It's simply shocking, traumatic.

Climate scientists say warming temperatures have produced wet. winter seasons that enabled California's seaside chaparral - areas. dominated by little trees, shrubs and bushes - to thrive. Record-high temperature levels this summer season dried hillsides,. priming them for wildfire.

The United States is experiencing a strong wildfire year. with 8.1 million acres (3.3 million hectares) burned to date,. compared with an annual, full-year average of around 7 million. acres over the last years, according to National Interagency. Fire Center information.

Up until now this year, California wildfires have actually burned more than. 3 times as much land as in 2015 at this time last year,. according to Cal Fire data.

(source: Reuters)