Thomas Fire Burns Ventura Apartment Complex To Ground

The fast-moving Thomas fire engulfed an downtown Ventura entire apartment complex in flames on Tuesday, December 5.

Hawaiian Village was swallowed up by the blaze at around 4 am that morning. Residents had been evacuated the previous day, according to local paper Ventura County Star. The video shows the intensity of the flames.

More than 27,000 people in the county were issued a mandatory evacuation order, and at least 150 structures were burned to the ground, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Southern California had been plagued by brush fires the past week, a result of dry weather and the strong Santa Ana winds. A local paper reported that the Creek fire near Sylma burned more than 11,000 acres, while the Rye fire tore through 1,000 acres in Santa Clarita. Credit: Michael Darden via Storyful