Air quality regulators issued an ash advisory for most of Southern California as crews try to contain Ventura County’s Mountain Fire.
The advisory applies to Ventura, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino Counties, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
Regulators said satellite and webcam images indicate widespread dust going as far as the Coachella Valley and covering most of the South Coast Air Basin. AQMD officials said the Santa Ana winds responsible for the rapidly growing Mountain fire also caused the kick-up in dust and ash throughout the region.
The fire started as severe winds battered much of Southern California, which prompted National Weather Service officials to issue Red Flag Warnings . In this particular instance, they issued a “Particularly Dangerous Situation” alert because of the threat posed by “an ongoing or imminent fire weather pattern.”
Meteorologists tracked some gusts of wind that reached more than 60 miles per hour as the fire burned.