Southern California Wildfires 2017: How Many Fires Are Contained?

GettyImages-889366830 — Firefighters set a backfire to make progress against the Thomas Fire before the winds return with the daylight near Lake Casitas on December 9, 2017 near Ojai, California. Strong Santa Ana winds have been feeding major wildfires all week, destroying hundreds of houses and forcing tens of thousands of people to stay away from their homes. Getty

Southern California wildfires are expected to continue into Sunday with firefighters battling blazes that will be further stoked by strong and erratic Santa Ana winds that could gust 50 mph in the morning. According to Saturday reports, many of the fires have been mostly contained, though the Thomas Fire in Ventura County is only 15 percent contained.

The Thomas Fire, in the Santa Barbara County coastal towns of Carpinteria and Montecito, has been the largest fire, burning more 155,000 acres, or about 242 square miles. More than 710 structures have been destroyed and 15,000 threatened, according to CA.gov.

“Unfortunately, one of the favored areas to experience the winds this weekend is the Ventura County coastal plain, which would be right in the Thomas Fire area,” said Ken Clark, an AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist.

Roughly 8,500 firefighters are battling six wildfires, which have collectively burned 175,000 acres, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Firefighters continue to battle fires throughout Los Angeles. The Skirball Fire in Los Angeles' wealthy Bel-Air area, was 75 percent contained as of Saturday night. The Creek Fire, in Sylmar, and the Rye Fire, in Santa Clarita, were 85 percent and 80 percent contained, respectively, according to officials.

The Lilac Fire in San Diego County was only 50 percent contained. The Liberty Fire in Riverside County was 100 percent contained.

Firefighters quickly responded to a blaze that started on Saturday night at about 7:30 p.m. in Monrovia, a city located in the foothills of Los Angeles' San Gabriel Mountains. The Norumbega Fire was estimated to be about five acres but was quickly contained.

Gov. Jerry Brown described the California wildfires as "the new normal" at a press conference Saturday at the Ventura County Fairgrounds.

“We’re facing a new reality in this state, where fires threatened people’s lives, their properties, their neighborhoods and billions and billions of dollars. So we have to have the resources to combat the fires,” Brown said.