How 2 wet winters created the ‘environmental recipe’ for the Mountain Fire

In an update to reporters on the destructive Mountain Fire in Ventura County on Thursday, officials said that unique conditions created the perfect "environmental recipe" for a fire as devastating as this to occur in the colder autumn months.

The fire broke out around 9:30 a.m. Wednesday near Balcom Canyon Road and Bradley Road, north of State Route 118. Initially reported as a 50-acre fire fueled by brush and Santa Ana winds, it jumped the highway and exploded to over 14,500 acres by Thursday.

In the news conference in Ventura on Thursday morning, officials didn't provide have fresh numbers to report. It was covering about 14,500 acres with 0% containment. The total amount of evacuations weren't yet known, though more than 14,000 people were notified that they were in the evacuation zones — mostly in the Santa Paula area.

Live updates: Mountain Fire surpasses 14,000 acres; dozens of homes lost

It's unknown when they'll be allowed to return to their homes.

"We will repopulate as soon as possible but we have not begun that process yet," said Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff.

While there wasn't much new to share in the raw numbers, officials shared what they'd learned about how the massive blaze was able to flourish.

In a thorough explanation from Los Angeles County Assistant Fire Chief Drew Smith, it was shared that two years of higher-than-average rainfall in the area created an excessive amount of grass growth in the Ventura County hills.

"Those fine fuels that are receptive to warm, dry, windy, supports the right recipe to promote large fire growth when we have high winds," Smith said. "When we have those environmental recipe, if you will, to promote this, it's because of the receptive fuel bed."

The high Santa Ana winds picked up that burning "fuel" and carried it to other locations, promoting the spread of the now destructive blaze.

According to Rich Thompson with the National Weather Service, winds were expected to die down to calmer speeds by Thursday evening and overnight into Friday.

Adding to the recipe for an expanding fire was the difficulty in landscape for firefighters to deal with. The slopes made this difficult, and the rapid expansion made water resources an issue overnight.

"Our water resources were prepared, they were ready," said Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner. "We did run out of the water last night ... Running out of water — I don't want to say it's abnormal but it's normal enough we plan for it. So it's impactful but it will be mitigated."