Schools were closed across Ventura County in Southern California as a wildfire continued to burn Wednesday, threatening 12,000 structures. Dozens of homes have burned since the fire erupted Monday, 96 kilometers northwest of Los Angeles.
In Pictures: California Wildfires
![Local residents react as numerous homes burn on a hillside during a wind driven wildfire in Ventura, California, Dec. 5, 2017.](https://gdb.voanews.com/04ae76bd-1d57-4944-af01-b4b6118bd39b_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Local residents react as numerous homes burn on a hillside during a wind driven wildfire in Ventura, California, Dec. 5, 2017.
![Firefighters put out a wildfire burning in an orchard, Dec. 5, 2017, in Santa Paula. The city is about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles.](https://gdb.voanews.com/aac26adb-40bc-45f5-b583-9ecad2852873_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Firefighters put out a wildfire burning in an orchard, Dec. 5, 2017, in Santa Paula. The city is about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles.
![A vehicle drives through the flying embers from heavy winds after an early-morning Creek Fire that broke out in the Kagel Canyon area in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles, in Sylmar, Dec. 5, 2017.](https://gdb.voanews.com/40dae34a-10bb-441a-8c25-321f526b4d98_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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A vehicle drives through the flying embers from heavy winds after an early-morning Creek Fire that broke out in the Kagel Canyon area in the San Fernando Valley north of Los Angeles, in Sylmar, Dec. 5, 2017.
![Smoke rises behind a leveled apartment complex as a wildfire burns in Ventura, Dec. 5, 2017.](https://gdb.voanews.com/a696e301-3eee-42b7-a3ae-49f861f97c76_w1024_q10_s.jpg)
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Smoke rises behind a leveled apartment complex as a wildfire burns in Ventura, Dec. 5, 2017.