Fire weather conditions for the Mountain Fire will deteriorate quickly after sunrise as winds get stronger in Ventura County.

Sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph with wind gusts of 40 to 50 mph are likely for the area this morning. The strongest winds are most likely in the highest terrain, but gusty winds will spread the fire quickly at any elevation.

Winds will ease slightly in the afternoon, but sustained winds of 10 to 20 mph and gusts to 30 mph are still possible. Today’s winds won’t be quite as strong as Wednesday’s, but will still pose a considerable risk as wind-driven flames will quickly tear through tinder-dry fuels.

Wind speeds will drop considerably Thursday night, with sustained winds of less than 10 mph and minimal gusts.

Christina Noren, 50, began worrying about the smoke in the sky near her Camarillo Heights home around 11:00 a.m. Wednesday, she told CNN. Within 45 minutes, police and fire officials were knocking on doors in her neighborhood, telling people to leave immediately.

“And they were really like, get the hell out of there now,” said Noren.

Noren and her husband, 62-year-old Paul Boutin, quickly fled, with just enough time to grab their dog, their laptops, some clothes, toothbrushes and Boutin’s thyroid medication.

Boutin has been in remission from thyroid cancer since August, but just had a related surgery last week and the couple was anxious about Boutin inhaling any smoke. They chose to evacuate to a hotel in Pismo Beach, more than 100 miles away, rather than a closer evacuation center.

“You know, the last thing that he needs is to be breathing smoke for the next 2 or 3 days,” said Noren.

An artist, Noren has collected art for more than 30 years. But she had to leave everything behind when she evacuated.

“These are large scale works. These are 8-foot by 8-foot sculptures, 8-foot by 8-foot paintings. This is not stuff you dump in the Prius,” said Noren. She’ll “have a good cry and a good scream” if her collection is gone, she said.

Southern California’s main electric provider cut off power intentionally overnight to tens of thousands of customers as a precaution as the Mountain Fire grows in Ventura County.

Southern California Edison says it turned off the power to 69,931 customers – including 23,603 in Ventura County – as part of its Public Safety Power Shutoff plan.

The spread of a number of past devastating wildfires has been blamed on fallen power lines that remained energized, prompting power companies to plan for broad shutoffs before that can happen again.

SoCal Edison says power shutoffs to an additional 180,000 customers due to the wildfire are “being considered.”

The Mountain Fire in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles, is spreading at a “dangerous rate,” Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said at a news conference Wednesday.

As of Thursday morning, the fire has burned more than 14,000 acres since it began Wednesday and damaged or destroyed several structures, officials said. It had 0% containment.

More than 14,000 people are under evacuation orders, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, and schools in the county are closed.

At least two people have been transported to the hospital with possible smoke inhalation, fire officials said.

A powerful and long-duration Santa Ana wind event will continue Thursday, bringing another day of gusty winds and fire weather to the region. These winds helped the Mountain Fire in Ventura County quickly spread Wednesday, damaging homes and forcing evacuations.

Winds should increase again for the Mountain Fire area Thursday morning, where the Storm Prediction Center has issued a critical fire weather risk – a level 2 of 3.

Sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts of 40 to 50 mph are possible before decreasing to 10 to 20 mph with gusts of 20 to 30 mph in the afternoon.

This is a slight improvement to Wednesday, where the area was under an extremely critical fire weather risk – a level 3 of 3. It was the first level 3 of 3 risk since December 2020.