Extreme winds fuel Mountain Fire, people rush to evacuate homes

VENTURA COUNTY, Calif.— Gusty winds, debris, and the smell of smoke permeated Ventura County, pushing the Mountain Fire from Moorpark into neighborhoods in Camarillo.
 
The smoke blanketed Oxnard.
 
Traffic was backed up in multiple directions throughout the afternoon.
 
“We have both the northbound off ramp and the southbound off ramp to Central Avenue shut down. We have a hotel and a mobile home park that the sheriff's department is trying to evacuate right now. The fire has come down. The hillside has jumped over Central Avenue…We do not know how long the traffic is going to be back there,” said California Highway Patrol Sergeant Michael Untalan.

A Camarillo man who lives in a mobile home park under an evacuation order couldn't believe the intensity of the fire.
 
“ I just came over from work. I work on the other side of town and they told us to go home, came here and wasn't expecting this,” said David Briggs, who purchased his Camarillo home just last year.
  
With winds making it dangerous for firefighters on the ground, Cal Fire helicopters were called in to make water drops.
 
Fatima Moumen is in the middle of moving back to Colorado. She says she’s happy she doesn’t have to pack twice. 
 
“I happened to be extremely lucky. I was one block away from the zone from which that would have been that would have been evacuated. However, everyone across the street from me and onwards needed to evacuate,” said Moumen.
 
But she still wants people to get their essentials ready just in case the fire spreads. 
 
“ IDs, passports, Social Security cards, things of that nature, credit cards. But also, you know, getting anything that is valuable to you,” said Moumen.
 
For updates on evacuation orders visit VC Emergency.