Brush fire in Ventura Co. explodes to 10,000 acres, prompting evacuations

Santa Paula, Calif. (KFSN) -- Mandatory evacuations are in place due to a fast-moving wildfire in Ventura County.

Strong winds are fueling the Thomas Fire that quickly grew from just fifty acres to 10,000 acres in just a few hours near the Santa Paula - Ojai border.

More than 600 homes have been evacuated. Crews also evacuated Thomas Aquinas College as the fire rages on towards the main part of the city with no containment at this hour.

Schools have been canceled in the Santa Paula area for Tuesday as well.

Right now more than 200,000 people are without power in Ventura and Santa Barbara Counties because of outages from the flames.

The cause of the fire is still unknown and it is unclear if any structures have been damaged at this point.

Fire crews announced one person has died in a car crash associated with the fire.

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