1200 acres burned in Solimar Beach Fire

The fire, fueled by 15- to 20-mph winds, began in the Solimar Beach area of California’s Ventura County about 11 p.m. on Friday.

“There was nobody stopping us on the highway as we got closer and closer, so we thought it was totally safe for us to drive past it. As we started getting closer, I chose to record the fire we saw next to us, as I had never seen this before”.

No injures have been reported and no structures have been damaged, but Ms Sumagaysay stressed the fire has not been contained.

Ms Sumagaysay said reopening the highway is a top priority, which officials said they hoped to accomplish by Saturday afternoon.

A crew of prison inmates works to remove brush to help keep a wildfire from spreading in Ventura County, Calif. The Ventura County Fire Department said the brush fire had burned 1,200 acres.

Californian wildfires have scorched more than a thousand acres of land outside Los Angeles.

More than 500 firefighters were at the scene or en route to battle the blaze and Ventura County Fire spokesman Tom Kruschke said Saturday that the fire was about ten per cent contained.

The Ventura County Fire Department, Los Angeles County Fire Department, Ventura City Fire Department, Santa Barbara County Fire Department, Santa Paula City Fire Department, CAL-FIRE, Ventura County Sheriff’s Office and California Highway Patrol are all part of the agencies collaborating to stop the fire. Authorities say two firefighters have suffered minor injuries, one to a knee and another to an ankle. There will be strong north winds Saturday night, before the winds shift and turn to the northeast on Sunday morning. About 60 homes in Solimar Beach were under mandatory evacuation orders.

Voluntary evacuations were also in place for residents in Faria Beach, a county emergency notification stated.

People who left their homes were asked to make sure their doors and windows were closed first.