Ojai, Calif. • The flames came from all sides, tearing across cliffs and roaring down mountains, burning through homes and engulfing cars. Entire communities were evacuated, forcing people to grab what they could and flee as raging wildfires spread rapidly, and in multiple directions, across Southern California.
Early Thursday, officials said that the worst of the wildfires — an enormous, fast-moving blaze known as the Thomas Fire — had surrounded Ojai, a popular winter retreat with about 8,000 residents. Most of the Ojai Valley was under a mandatory evacuation order
Yet even as they scrambled for shelter from the choking smoke and flames that turned idyllic communities into apocalyptic backdrops, many people worried about the dangers still to come.