VENTURA, Calif. — For the second time in two months, wind-driven fires tore through California communities in the middle of the night, leaving rows of homes and a psychiatric hospital in ruins Tuesday and sending tens of thousands of people fleeing for their lives.
There were no immediate reports of any deaths or serious injuries in the blazes burning in Southern California’s Ventura County, on the edge of Los Angeles and in inland San Bernardino County.
The Ventura wildfire broke out Monday and grew to nearly 80 square miles. It was fanned by dry Santa Ana winds at well over 60 mph that grounded firefighting helicopters and planes.
Fires aren’t typical in Southern California this time of year but can break out when dry vegetation and too little rain combine with the Santa Ana winds. Hardly any measurable rain has fallen in the region in the past six months.
Like the deadly October fires in Napa and Sonoma counties, the blazes are in areas more suburban than rural.
The official count was that at least 150 structures burned in the Ventura County fire, but it was sure to go higher.
Mansions and modest homes alike were in flames. The Hawaiian Village Apartments burned to the ground. The Vista del Mar Hospital, which treats patients with mental problems or substance abuse, including veterans with post-traumatic stress syndrome, smoldered after burning overnight.
Aerial footage showed dozens of homes in one neighborhood burned to the ground and a large subdivision in jeopardy as the flames spit out embers that could spark new blazes.
More than 27,000 people were evacuated, and one firefighter suffered bumps and bruises in a vehicle accident in Ventura County. The fire erupted near Santa Paula, a city of some 30,000 people about 60 miles northwest of Los Angeles known for its citrus and avocado orchards and farm fields along the Santa Clara River.