8,000 firefighters on the ground. In San Diego County the lilac fire driven by winds gusting above 50 Miles Per Hour thursday destroying dozens of structures. We have crews surrounding this whole area. Were going to protect all the ones that we can. Oh. Reporter as the flames churned towards this horse stable, their only hope of escaping the flames. You can see the horses stampeding. Some 2 dozen did not survive. Many are still missing. Look at the structure going up in flames. The trees starting to light and the embers carried by this wind. The spot fires can flair up. Reporter the thomas fire so explosive it looked like a volcano. We were on the ground. You could see how massive that plume of smoke is. This thing towers into the sky thousands of feet up. Reporter our station kabc in the air today above ventura. The fire just moved through here with too much in the way of high winds to save most of these homes. Reporter tonight parts of the thomas fire burning close to the turn of oja