The latest Southern California wildfire has torched more than 8,000 rural acres and threatens millions of dollars worth of avocados, oranges and lemons, authorities said Friday.
The Maria fire ignited atop South Mountain, near the farming communities of Santa Paula and Somis, at about 6:15 p.m. local time on Thursday and had grown to more than 8,300 acres by dawn, the Ventura County Fire Department said.
About 1,800 homes roughly 65 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles are threatened and at least two dwellings have been destroyed so far, NBC Los Angeles reported.
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“We are actively engaged in structure protection as well as protecting the agricultural assets there with avocados and citrus orchards that have significant values,” Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen told reporters overnight.
Ventura County, and Santa Paula in particular, is one of the region’s major agricultural hubs.
Santa Paula calls itself the “Citrus Capital of the World” and the city’s website says it’s “surrounded by rolling hills and rugged mountain peaks in addition to orange, lemon and avocado groves.”
Ventura County, in 2018, produced $244 million worth of lemons, $103 million in avocados, $20 million of Valencia oranges and $17 million in mandarins and tangelos, according to latest figures from the Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner’s Office.
“I’m just worried about all the animals and the homes and all the ranches that are nearby on South Mountain,” evacuating Santa Paula resident Anna Garcia told NBC Los Angeles.
About 7,500 residents in the area were ordered to evacuate Thursday night.
“It just started, just a small quarter and then within minutes it expanded really quickly, really quickly,” said another Santa Paula resident Devawn Escobar, gesturing to flames visible from miles away.
The Maria fire is just 25 miles northwest of another Ventura County blaze, the Easy fire, which ignited on Wednesday and initially threatened the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
The 1,860-acre blaze had been 80 percent contained by Friday morning, officials said.
Then the Getty fire, which started on Monday, has torched 745 acres of West Los Angeles and was 66 percent contained, Los Angeles Fire Department officials said Friday.
