Live updates: At least 132 structures destroyed by Mountain Fire in Ventura County

Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for Ventura County on Thursday due to the Mountain Fire, which has burned more than 20,400 acres near Moorpark and Camarillo.

"This is a dangerous fire that's spreading quickly and is threatening lives. California has mobilized state resources, including personnel, engines and aircraft from CAL FIRE and Cal OES, to protect communities as our fire and emergency response teams work around the clock to combat this fire," Newsom said in a statement.

The governor's office also got approval on Wednesday for FEMA's Fire Management Assistance Grant, which would split the cost of wildfire response with the federal government paying 75 percent and California paying 25 percent.

As the Mountain Fire pushed into Santa Paula from Moorpark, firefighters said the powerful and persistent Santa Ana winds made the firefight frustrating.

"It's like trying to put out a blow torch with a squirt gun," said Capt. Tony McHale with the Ventura County Fire Department.

Those winds are what made the flames spread so quickly. Some residents said they barely had time to evacuate before their homes went up in flames.

As the Mountain Fire pushed into Santa Paula from Moorpark, firefighters said the persistent Santa Ana winds made the firefight frustrating.

"First it skipped us. And it started burning our neighbor's house past us," said Dawn DeLeon. "We thought we were OK. Evacuated anyway. And today came back and the house was gone."

She and her husband and their six pets slept in their car, having just salvaged a few key items from the home. They are hoping their daughter's house nearby was spared.

"We're just processing as we go. If this other house survives, we're OK. If not, then I don't know."

Emotions were running high at Father Serra Parish, one of the shelter locations available for the thousands of evacuated residents, with some saying they barely escaped the flames but found out their home burned down.

There were 125 people at Father Serra Parish overnight, but many of those evacuees took their kids to school in the morning, and then headed to work.

"This is the clothes I walked out in, that's it, and with my phone and car keys, nothing else," said Sayeed Sikder.

Emotions were running high at Father Serra Parish, with some evacuees saying they barely escaped the flames but found out their home burned down.

Sikder shared that losing his home is even more devastating because his mother died a year ago.

"All of her memories - gone ... every single piece gone," he said.

Dave Wagner with the American Red Cross said they have had entire families stay at the shelter.

"They're in tears. They know they've lost their homes. Some of them have lost some pets, so it's very emotional," he said.

Santa Ana winds are expected to return to Southern California next week, bringing another round of red flag warnings and heightened wildfire danger.

Ventura County Fire Capt. Trevor Johnson said everyone is preparing for it.

"Our goal is to not only take care of all the community out here but bring stabilization to this incident so that we can free up resources and be ready for the next fire," he said.

Johnson said the Mountain Fire is not a full capacity staffing, which allows crews to be ready to battle another fire if one should break out.

"If another incident were to arise, we're fully prepared to handle that incident as well," he said.