Live updates: Mountain Fire grows to 19,600 acres, moves toward Santa Paula, Somis communities

CHP Officer Gregory Bowcock's family lost their home in the Mountain Fire. The family of six grabbed what they could and fled as the flames raced uphill toward their home.

CHP Officer Gregory Bowcock's family lost their home in the Mountain Fire. The family of six grabbed what they could and fled as the flames raced uphill toward their home.

Officer Bowcock's work SUV was completely charred, and his home was burned to the ground. Four generations of his family had lived in that house.

The family's church community helped them find an Airbnb to stay in temporarily.

Bowcock's son Mac helped make sure his siblings were safe.

"I was running around grabbing things that we need and im trying to get the kids safe because I don't want to lose them, because well, they're my brothers and sisters, so I don't want to lose them...I miss our house, but it's better that we still have our lives," Mac said.

Thursday is Officer Bowcock's birthday.

"I can't believe it's gone." Erika Bauer's childhood home in Camarillo was completely destroyed by the Mountain Fire. Her parents lived there since 1978. Now, their beloved house is reduced to ashes.

Erika Bauer walked through what was left of her childhood home Thursday morning. Her parents have lived in the Las Posas Estates community in Camarillo since 1978. The home held so many memories for her family

"I can't believe it's gone. I don't even know what to say right now. This is surreal. I know we live in a fire danger area but it came out of nowhere it was so fast," Bauer described.

The Mountain Fire turned their beloved home to ashes.

Bauer says her parents were at home when the flames came racing toward their property. Her mother was able to help her father, who is blind, evacuate safely before their home was engulfed in flames.

While the dangerous and strong Santa Ana winds are expected to subside by 6 p.m. Thursday, the fight to contain the Mountain Fire in Ventura County continues to be perilous.

During a news conference Thursday, Ventura County Fire Capt. Trevor Johnson said fire crews are focusing on the northeast corner of the blaze. The flames are moving back to the east, or along the Highway 118 corridor, toward Moorpark again.

This will impact the area north of Somis and south of Santa Paula.

"It's rugged, steep ... only our finest firefighters can even access to work in there," Johnson said. "We've got aircraft working in there to pin it down. They're coming up with multiple options. We don't plan just for one option to work. So, we identify a primary alternate, a contingent operation in there."

With the strong winds, embers can travel up to 3 miles, creating large fire growth, Los Angeles County Department fire behavior analyst Drew Smith explained during the news conference. He said after two years of above average rainfall that led to robust grass growth, the grass is now dry, becoming fine fire fuel for dry and windy conditions.

"The fire danger remains extremely high," Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said.

More than 14,000 evacuation notifications have been sent out in the evacuation zones. Fryhoff said officials don't have the exact number of people evacuated at this time.

It's unknown how many homes have been destroyed or damaged by the wildfire. Officials said 10 damage assessment teams are heading to the area to do a detailed accounting of the damage.

Dozens of homes have been destroyed by the massive Mountain Fire in Ventura County.

Scott Reiff in AIR7 surveyed the damage Thursday morning and counted 83 homes that were destroyed in the Camarillo Heights area. Almost all homes along Santa Cruz were destroyed by the flames.

Scott Reiff in AIR7 surveyed the damage Thursday morning and counted 83 homes that were destroyed in the Camarillo Heights area.