Highway 101 closed by brush fire in Ventura County

The fire has spread rapidly as winds in excess of 40 miles per hour have blown embers and helped them establish themselves.

More than 400 firefighters continue to work the scene, he said. An additional 30 homes nearby were under voluntary evacuation orders.

A view of a fire that started near Solimar Beach, seen from Highway 101 near Seaward Avenue in Ventura, Calif., Saturday, Dec. 26, 2015.

So far, the blaze has burned through some 1,200 acres (485 hectares) and is only 10 percent contained, according to Cal Fire public information officer Daniel Berlant. “It’s still not a contained fire so I just want to caution that any openings that do happen are subject to being closed again if the fire changes direction.” said Cmdr. The northbound lanes re-opened around 1:45 p.m., and the southbound lanes re-opened about 20 minutes later.

“The fire is being pushed by a strong northwest wind and now poses a threat to oil, gas, power and rail infrastructure”, Ventura County officials wrote on vcemergency.com.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Winds should diminish for Sunday after gusty winds blew across the area on Saturday.

Crews on 10 to 15 fire engines fought the flames Saturday morning, trying to protect structures and contain “fire that’s up and down the hill”, according to Kaufmann. There was nobody stopping us as we got closer and closer.

People in the Solimar Beach area were ordered to leave their homes but that mandatory order was lifted late Saturday afternoon, fire officials said. Only two firefighters suffered minor injuries, while there were no civilian casualties reported. Officials said they are working with the California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, to assess damage to the freeway guardrails before they could reopen US 101 to the busy holiday traffic.

A Red Cross shelter was set up in Carpinteria but it remained mostly empty and was deactivated Saturday evening.

The wind-driven wildfire broke out Christmas night and quickly grew, at one point jumping the 101 Freeway, prompting a full closure through the Ventura area and up to the Santa Barbara County line.