Friday, November 8

A large wildfire is burning dangerously close to several populated areas near Los Angeles, endangering structures as it rages across the region.

The Mountain Fire is currently raging north of the town of Camarillo in Ventura County, northwest of downtown Los Angeles, and it poses a serious threat to countless homes and businesses. The wildfire began just a few days ago but exploded in size on Wednesday, and it now covers over 20,000 acres. An entire mountain, giving the fire its name, is ablaze in between multiple towns, leading to over 14,000 evacuations.

The cause of the fire is currently unknown, but it is devastating Ventura County at a lightning-fast pace. The fire was just over 300 acres large on Wednesday morning, but in just five hours, it had expanded to over 10,000 acres.

Unfortunately, the Mountain Fire is burning an area previously devastated by other wildfires in previous years. The Woolsey Fire killed three people and destroyed over 1,600 homes in the same area in 2018, and the Thomas Fire burned over 1,000 structures in Ventura County and the neighboring Santa Barbara County in 2017.

At least 3,500 structures have been affected, according to California Governor Gavin Newsom, and the fire is rapidly spreading. It is only 5% contained, but Cal Fire is redirecting everyone to battle the blaze. Over 800 firefighters and 58 fire trucks have been sent to Ventura County, but helicopters cannot operate in the area, presumably due to the smoke. Schools across the county are also closed until the end of the week.

While the Santa Clara River flows right next to the fire, providing some sort of barrier on the ground, the area's strong winds are blowing embers across the river and into nearby farms. Due to the abundance of dry, hot weather in recent weeks, non-crop vegetation around these farms easily catches fire, allowing the wildfire to spread even farther.

Power has been shut off for over 70,000 people across five counties in southern California to mitigate wildfire risk, and an additional 250,000 people are at risk of experiencing the outage, known as a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS). Also, red flag warnings have been issued for over 25 million people-- around 65% of the state's total population. The warnings include people across Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other heavily populated areas across California's western coast. A red flag warning is the most severe fire danger warning in the United States, used to describe “extreme and life-threatening fire behavior.”

Thankfully, winds are expected to die down as the weekend goes on, slowing down the spread of the fire and allowing firefighters to make some progress on containing the blaze.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): A cockroach has 13 heart chambers. Cockroach hearts are not like humans-- it is a large blood vessel-like structure that pumps hemolymph (a cockroach's version of blood) directly into body cavities.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision. (Winston Churchill)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Dedication (noun)- Dedication refers to devotion, loyalty, or commitment to a person or cause. It can also refer to a message at the beginning of a book, song, etc., that expresses affection or gratitude for someone, or to a ceremony to mark the official completion or opening of something, such as a building.

In a Sentence: It took a lot of hard work and dedication, but we managed to finish the project on time.