‘Trying to put out a blowtorch with a squirt gun’ — Crews try to contain Mountain Fire

Ventura County Fire Captain Tony McHale says crews are going on the offensive against the still-raging Mountain Fire.

"At this point, [we're] taking advantage of the weather," he told KNX News' Jon Baird. "So this is the ground pounding. This is where we have this opportunity to really get the work done. Now, we worked exceedingly hard at the beginning. We were in that defensive posture, but the men and women that were doing this heroic actions in the most impossible conditions, you can imagine."

The fire, which started on Wednesday morning, spread quickly due to the Santa Ana Winds.

"It was one of the most extreme Santa Ana or East wind situations that I've seen in my career," McHale said. "We had winds 60 miles an hour sustained, gusting up to 80. It was just horrible conditions to fight fire in. So of course, the fire rapidly spread. I like to tell people that it feels like trying to put a blowtorch out with a squirt gun."

McHale added that evacuation orders are still in effect and urged residents to be patient.

"We have damage assessment teams - as we speak - out there doing a very careful detailed analysis," he said. "We want to get this right. So they're evaluating each property and they're going to come up with a number of homes that were either destroyed or damaged. And then, of course, other things, outbuildings, other types of structures. They do a very detailed assessment of that. So that's going to take a little bit of time."

For those wanting the latest updates, McHale urged them to go to vcemergency.org .