Shortly after 11 pm Christmas night, firefighters responded to multiple calls of a brushfire about 10 miles north of Ventura. Evacuations were promptly ordered in the Solimar Beach area, forcing locals out of their homes and nearby campers onto the roads while the fire quickly spread overnight. By Saturday morning winds up to 40 mph had fanned the flames, scorching as much as 1,200 acres. During a morning press conference fire officials officials estimated they’d contained about 10 percent of the fire and would be working to put the fire out for the next three days.
The fire started at about 10:30 pm Friday evening on the 3000 block of West Pacific Coast Highway, with flames visible as close to 150 feet from the sand of Solimar Beach. By 1 am Saturday morning the fire had spread through 300 acres, and before sunrise the Ventura County Office of Emergency Services reported the fire had grown to 900 acres. Then, by 10:30 am officials were estimating an even greater number up to 1,200 acres, or nearly 2 square miles with both the nearby 101 freeway and Pacific Coast Highway shut down. During Friday night’s evacuations some travelers even shared videos of themselves “driving through fire” with flames and scorched hills surrounding northbound and southbound lanes. “Vehicles caught in the fire were making u-turns and driving toward other motorists who were unaware of the problem,” according to Ventura County Battalion Chief Fred Burris, who recounted the initial chaos when firefighters arrived on the scene.
Authorities say more than 600 firefighters have been sent to the scene where winds are expected to pick back up through the day, threatening to scorch even more land. No injuries or damaged homes had been reported by the time officials held a mid morning press conference.
We will be updating news on this situation as the story develops.
