Evacuations are mounting in Ventura and Los Angeles counties as a pair of life-threatening wildfires rage.
The Hill Fire has charred at least 4,000 acres by Friday evening. The fire is burning in the same area as the Springs Fire from 2013, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.
"The wind is definitely pushing this thing toward the ocean just like the Springs Fire a few years ago," Ventura County Fire Capt. Brian McGrath told the Los Angeles Times. "It's very fast."
The second blaze, the Woolsey Fire, flared up south of Simi Valley on Thursday afternoon and rapidly spread on Thursday night. It has burned 35,000 acres as of early Friday evening.
Over 20,000 customers are without power in Southern California; the majority of the outages are in Los Angeles County, according to Southern California Edison.
A state of emergency was declared in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties on Friday afternoon due to the fires burning in Southern California. On Friday, President Donald Trump approved California's Emergency Declaration, allowing federal assistance to be open to the state due to the wildfires.
Helicopters and air tankers will fly as wind and smoke conditions allow on Friday, officials said.
The Woolsey Fire has burned multiple structures and forced the evacuation of all of Oak Park, a town of nearly 14,000 people. Many structures have been damaged or destroyed, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.
Ventura County fire officials said Friday morning that the blaze had jumped Highway 101 near Chesebro Road.
Fire has jumped the 101 freeway at Liberty Canyon and is well established on the south side of the freeway.Avoid 101 of commuting, large back-ups behind closure pic.twitter.com/1BbrDUPgSj
— VCFD PIO (@VCFD_PIO) November 9, 2018
Mandatory evacuations expanded into Thousand Oaks and part of the Los Angeles city limits.
On Friday morning, officials issued a mandatory evacuation for all of Malibu, all areas south of the 101 Freeway from Ventura County to Las Virgenes and Malibu Canyon. Residents were told to use the Pacific Coast Highway.
"[The] fire is burning out of control, heading into populated areas of Malibu. All residents evacuate now," the City of Malibu said early Friday afternoon.
The Los Angeles Police Department said on Twitter that they are on a citywide tactical alert to ensure all resources are available to assist in evacuation orders and road closures due to the Woolsey Fire.
A separate brush fire, about two to three acres in size, was burning in Griffith Park in Los Angeles. The Los Angeles Fire Department was on the scene, but officials with the Los Angeles Zoo said they were beginning the process of evacuating animals.
The 101 Freeway has been shut down in both directions between Borchard Road and Pleasant Valley Road, according to KABC-TV. Santa Rosa Road in Camarillo is also closed in both directions.
Fire officials say over 100,000 residents have been evacuated in Ventura County.
The fire threat prompted dozens of schools to close on Friday. Shelter locations have opened up throughout the area for evacuees.
For the most up-to-date info on Evacuations, Shelter Locations, School Closures related to the Hill Fire and Woolsey Fire, visit https://t.co/8jn83xiY6V
— Ventura OES (@Venturaoes) November 9, 2018
Santa Ana winds ramping back up later this weekend will threaten to further spread these devastating blazes.
Winds will also increase in Northern California, where fire crews continue to battle the deadly Camp Fire.
Nine people were killed and hundreds of thousands ordered to evacuate as wildfires raged Saturday across California, with one rapidly spreading blaze threatening the resort of Malibu, home to Hollywood stars.
The fatalities were reported in a massive late-season inferno in the town of Paradise, in Butte County north of the state capital Sacramento, where some 6,700 structures went up in flames - officially becoming California's most destructive fire on record.
The fast-moving blaze, which authorities have named the "Camp Fire", broke out Thursday morning. Fanned by strong winds, it has scorched 90,000 acres (36,400 hectares) and is only five percent contained, the California Fire Department (Cal Fire)said late Friday.
Other large fires raged in southern California, including one just north of Los Angeles and another in Ventura County near Thousand Oaks, where a Marine Corps veteran shot dead 12 people in a country music bar on Wednesday night.
"The magnitude of destruction we have seen is really unbelievable and heartbreaking and our hearts go to everybody who has been affected by this," said Mark Ghilarducci, the director of the California Governor's Office of Emergency Services.
Governor-elect Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency to provide assistance to the fire-hit areas.
Butte County Sheriff Korey Honea said late Friday it was his "sad duty" to update the Camp Fire death toll to nine.
"I don't have all of the details because we have investigators out on the field" trying to reach the locations where casualties were reported, Honea told reporters.
But he did say that four people were found inside a vehicle in the Paradise area, while another was found nearby. Three more were found outside a residence, and one inside a house. Officials earlier said that five people had died in vehicles overcome by the fire.
Dozens of other people were reported missing.
Residents who escaped Paradise posted harrowing videos to social media as they drove through tunnels of swirling smoke and orange flames to outrun the wildfire.
The flames destroyed hundreds of homes, a hospital, a gas station, several restaurants and numerous vehicles, officials said.
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for more than 52,000 people in the scenic area in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains.
"The whole lower side of Paradise is totally engulfed in flames right now," Kevin Winstead, a resident of nearby Magalia, told KIEM TV. "All of it is engulfed in flames right now.
"Not one home will be left standing," he said. "I'm devastated."
"We're just hoping that our brand new home that we were hoping to move into tomorrow is not burned to the ground," Winstead said.
California has endured abnormally dry weather for years. Much of the south, including the Los Angeles area, is experiencing drought conditions according to official data.
President Donald Trump showed no sympathy for the famously liberal state. "There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor," Trump tweeted on Saturday.
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