Linda Elmo, 75, was waiting outside the neighborhood for Ventura County emergency officials to bring a wheelchair to enter the building.

This morning she saw the wind picking up and she was listening to the news but a fireman knocked on the door and yelled at her and her husband, “Go, go, go!” He did not receive any news about the evacuation until he said.

“It all happened so fast,” Elmo said. “(The fire) was in this canyon next to the house in the backyard.”

The mountain fire broke out in Moorpark and Camarillo on Wednesday, driven by dangerously high winds and dry conditions. The fire also engulfed the neighborhoods on the hillside, forcing residents to flee and burning many houses. There were reports that some people were stranded.

The department said high winds meant planes that dropped the retardant were initially unable to assist firefighting efforts. The fire was crossing Highway 118 and heading toward the Camarillo Hills. As a result, the California Highway Patrol closed the 118 Freeway between Oxnard and Camarillo.

The fires started Wednesday amid the Santa Ana wind event, which brought wind gusts of 70 to 80 mph in parts of Los Angeles County and triggered power outages, traffic concerns and fire risk warnings.

There were dramatic moments in the morning and afternoon.

Ventura County Sheriff’s deputies rushed elderly Moorpark residents in wheelchairs down steep driveways and out of homes, surrounded by the orange haze and wind that fueled the Mountain fire. Major News Network video shows.

Deputies picked up those who could not get into police cars and moved them away from the flames that had just come into view.

Elmo left half of the medicine he needed at home.

“I don’t have a charge for my oxygen,” said Elmo, who uses the Inogen portable oxygen machine. “I’ll handle it.”

He has a friend who is trying to get more medication for him from the pharmacy, but he is hoping the Red Cross may also have some of the medication he needs.