California. Those are the approximate i cantures on the right. And the north bay wildfire thats started in october. Those are on the left. Both started in the evening nighttime hours. It hampered the ability to make progress for several hours while the fire grew. It started amid dry, warm, windy conditions. In Ventura County, the fire grew about 10,000 acres. The fire in Ventura County is burning west towards the pacific ocean. Another similarity here, there are large cities in the path of its fire. Welcome to the 9. Mike has the day off. Alex is here. Sal castaneda. We talk about wildland fires. And there are large cities in the path of the flames. Right. That is the same situation that we had up in Sonoma County and santa rosa. When i heard about the way that the fire exploded overnight, it felt exactly the same as what we encountered up in the santa rosa area when we had the tubbs fire. It was not burning in a place where you would expect a wildfire to burn. Right. A lot of people u
There is active fire in this community. This is off of highway 33. Now we also ran into a firefighter some firefighters from fremont fire. There are about 1,000 firefighters on the fire lines including many from the bay area. And the firefighters say they are returning the favor. Of course a lot of firefighters just were up in Northern California in the bay area to help us with our north bay fires. Now bay area firefighters are down here. It is deja vu. I can tell you. And the folks say they watched our fires on television and now they are battling their own disaster. Reporting live in Ventura County, Jodi Hernandez, nbc bay area news. Thank you jodi. Yes bay area firefighters from the north bay to the south bay, the peninsula and east bay heading down to Ventura County to help the firefighters battle the ferocious flames and deal with the santa anna winds. Lets check in with our chief meteorologist jeff ranieri and they need rain. Any rain in sight. No rain in sight. I think the next
Us what you are seeing and experiencing. Reporter well its a familiar site jessica. Were here right off highway 33 in Ventura County where you can see the thomas fire is actively burning tonight. We have been watching as the fire sweeps across the hillside right above a neighborhood. And it has been taking structures along with it that are located on that hillside. Now neighbors tell me that this is the former neighborhood of johnny cash. Apparently he used to live here with his first wife years ago. Firefighters are taking a stand trying to protect the famous residence. Neighbors tell aus barn has burned on the property. But so far the johnny cash house is still standing. As you mentioned, at least 150 structures have burned so far in this 50,000acre wildfire. 27,000 people have been evacuated. We talked to a number of people in this neighborhood who are under an Evacuation Order but have decided to stay. You know, i dont know. I dont know what if this is really hitting me just yet. I
Along the front line foss more than 24 hours now, saving what they can and making little headway. After a full day, a full force battle, zero containment in the thomas fire. Worse, we learned the flames have jumped 101 at solimar beach. The fire has charged 50,000 acres. You see the flames and all the cars leaving the danger spots. Southern california is dealing with three primary fire, much like what we dealt with two months ago, all fueled by windy and dry conditions. The thomas fire, creek fire, and rye fire. More than 30,000 people have been evacuated. Nbc bay areas Jodi Hernandez joins us in Ventura County. Jodi, these first 48 hours are critical. What are you seeing around you now . Raj, what were seeing are a ton of flames. Take a look for yourself. Were in a Community Called casita springs right off of highway 33. As you can see, the hillsides all over this area are ablaze tonight, and firefighters are doing all they can to make sure the flames dont consume even more homes. The
Authorities had said a person died in a car crash last night while evacuating, but we have learned that its no longer the case. More than 27,000 people have been forced to evacuate. Many of them received the warning in the Early Morning hours grabbing whatever they could before fleeing. Some people though made the decision to stay where they were. Did you spend the night here . Yes, we did. Yeah. I can imagine that was terrifying. It was very terrifying especially when you see all the hills behind you youre supposed to be gone. i know. Its hard to leave, right . It is very hard to leave. Exactly. With a wildland fire like this, such a dynamic, fast moving situation that can easily overwhelm local resources in the initial attack, but the california mutual aid system is second to none. They say there is currently no containment on the thomas fire in ventura. More than 1,000 firefighters are battling this fire from the ground and the air including crews from the bay area. A second fire,