The wind-whipped Woolsey Fire in Ventura and Los Angeles counties doubled in size overnight, but fire officials were hoping to take advantage of calmer conditions Saturday to make progress on corralling the fast-moving blaze.
Two people have been confirmed dead in the area of the fire, which had blackened some 70,000 acres and was at 0 percent containment, officials said at a morning press conference in Thousand Oaks.
“Last night was a tough night,” Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen said.
Highway 101 remained closed in both directions between Reyes Adobe Road in Agoura Hills and Valley Circle Boulevard in Calabasas, but the California Highway Patrol indicated it hoped to have the freeway reopened later in the day on Saturday.
Pacific Coast Highway (Highway 1) was closed southbound at Las Posas Road in Camarillo and northbound at Sunset Boulevard in Santa Monica.
The damage toll from the fire remained unknown, but Los Angeles County Fire Chief Daryl Osby said there has been “significant structural losses.”
Preliminary estimates placed the number of homes destroyed at between 50 and 150.
“This is been the worst fire conditions that many firefighters said they have experienced in their careers,” Osby said.
Two bodies were found Friday evening on the 33000 block of Mulholland Highway, and investigators were still trying to determine the circumstances.
As many as 250,000 people remained under evacuation orders or warnings in Ventura and Los Angeles counties.
Saturday’s forecast was calling for more favorable weather conditions, but another round of gusty Santa Ana winds was expected to hit the region Sunday through Tuesday.
A Red Flag Warning for extreme fire weather danger will remain in effect for that same period for Ventura and Los Angeles counties, according to the National Weather Service. (Santa Barbara County is not expected to experience the gusty conditions.)
Firefighters were hoping to use the calmer conditions to gain some “perimeter control” on the fire, especially in the area of Bell Canyon on the east and Malibu Canyon on the south, Osby said.
Some 2,000 fire personnel are assigned to Woolsey Fire, and another 900 to the Hill Fire in the Camarillo area, which charred 4,531 acres and was at 25-percent containment.
— Noozhawk executive editor Tom Bolton can be reached at tbolton@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.