The Mountain fire broke out Wednesday morning. By Thursday afternoon, the blaze had burned more than 20,000 acres.

At least three other significant brush fires have ignited on the hilly terrain of Ventura County's South Mountain since 2019.

Multiple homes in Camarillo and Moorpark have been destroyed and more than 14,000 acres have burned as the Mountain Fire remains at 0% containment in Ventura County.

Menlo Park Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen, who spent a decade as the chief in Ventura County, said firefighters prioritize evacuations before defending structures. It used to be that there was more time to extinguish a fire before it became life-threatening, he said.

Mountain Fire initially started 8:51 a.m. Nov. 6 in Ventura County. It has burned 20,630 acres after being active for a week. By Wednesday morning, a crew of 1,864 firefighters effectively contained 60% of the fire.

At least 200 structures, including homes, have been destroyed alongside an additional 90 damaged in the ongoing wind-fanned Mountain Fire in Ventura County, fire officials said Tuesday morning.

The blaze charred hundreds of acres of citrus trees, nursery plants, raspberry crops, and avocado trees, according to Ventura County Agricultural Commissioner Korinne Bell.

As firefighters increase containment against Ventura County’s devastating Mountain fire, new access to burned areas has revealed even more damage from the blaze that exploded last week during an exceptional wind event.