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The Thomas Fire in Ventura County Is No Joke

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Southern California is dealing with a massive fire in the middle of Ventura County. Being called the Thomas Fire, as of noon PST today, none of the fire had been contained. It has grown to 45,500 acres in just 13 hours. That's twice the size of the island of Manhattan, folks.

The Thomas Fire in Ventura County Is No Joke
This graphic from the Offices of Emergency Services show the affected areas at this point.

Thousands are being evacuated. Ventura police departments, sheriffs, and fire departments were literally knocking on doors to get people to leave their homes in neighborhoods in the most danger from the fast-moving blaze.

NASA JPL (Jet Propulsion Laboratory) just posted this satellite image on twitter of the smoke plumes.

The Los Angeles Times went so far as to remove the paywall from their site to ensure the public could have access to the most up-to-date information and photos.

California Governor Jerry Brown issued a state of emergency for the area this morning. A statement from Brown said:

"This fire is very dangerous and spreading rapidly, but we'll continue to attack it with all we've got. It's critical residents stay ready and evacuate immediately if told to do so."

Photos are pouring in on social media, detailing the horrific, hellish scenes.

The Thomas Fire is not the only blaze happening in SoCal right now either, as there is also the Ray Fire near Newhall Ranch Road north of the San Fernando Valley.

Starting at around 10 a.m. PST this morning, the fire caused I-5 to be closed. Local media has reported the wildfire has jumped Newhall Ranch Road, threatening a power station and a shopping center among other structures. It's estimated that roughly 200 acres have been burned.

The Ray Fire also caused a halt in production of TV series S.W.A.T., which was filming nearby.

Looks like HBO's Westworld was also impacted, and shut down their filming in Santa Clarita today, stating "Due to nearby wildfires, Westworld stopped production earlier today and will resume filming as soon as it's safe to do so."

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Mary Anne ButlerAbout Mary Anne Butler

Bleeding Cool News Editor Mary Anne Butler (Mab, for short) has been part of the fast-paced world of journalism since she was 15, getting her start in album reviews and live concert coverage for a nationally published (print) music magazine. She eventually transitioned to online media, writing for such sites as UGO/IGN, ComicsOnline, Geek Magazine, Ace of Geeks, Aggressive Comix (where she is still Editor-in-Chief), and most recently Bleeding Cool. 

Over the past 10 years, she’s built a presence at conventions across the globe as a cosplayer (occasionally), photographer (constantly), panelist and moderator (mostly), and reporter (always). 

 Interviews, reviews, observations, breaking news, and objective reporting are the name of the game for the founder of Harkonnen Knife Fight, a Dune-themed band with an international presence. 

 Though she be but little, she is fierce. #MabTheProfessional
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