US: Firefighting efforts continue in southern California November 14 /update 6

Event

Two fires continue to burn in southern California's Ventura and Los Angeles counties as of Wednesday, November 14. Firefighters have made progress against the blazes recently as offshore Santa Ana winds subsided and full containment is expected for the Hill and Woolsey fires on Thursday, November 15, and Sunday, November 18, respectively. As of 15:00 (local time) on Wednesday, the larger Woolsey fire has resulted in three deaths.

Evacuation notices and road closures remain in effect for the larger Malibu area, though some evacuation orders have been lifted. Road closures include all roads closed south of Mulholland Highway and west of Cornell Road, along with all southbound lanes of the Pacific Coast Highway (CA-1) from Las Posas to Coastline Drive. US-101 is open to traffic in both directions but is experiencing heavy delays in southbound lanes east of Thousand Oaks, near Las Virgenes Road, as of 14:00. The fire remains dangerous and changing wind and weather conditions can result in existing hot spots to flare up and spread rapidly.

As of 07:00, the Hill fire has burned 1833 hectares (4530 acres) and is 94 percent contained; the Woolsey fire burned 39,500 hectares (97,620 acres) and is 47 percent contained.

Context

Both fires began on November 8 near Thousand Oaks. Wildfires are common in California from May through November.

Advice

Individuals in the affected area are advised to monitor developments to the situation, adhere to instructions issued by local authorities (e.g. evacuation notices, road closures), and refrain from strenuous outdoor activity.