While dangerous and strong Santa Ana winds are expected to subside by 6 p.m. Thursday, the fight to control the Mountain Fire in Ventura County remains dangerous.

At a press conference Thursday, Ventura County Fire Chief Trevor Johnson said fire crews were focusing on the northeast corner of the fire. Flames are moving east or along the Highway 118 corridor back toward Moorpark.

This will affect the area north of Somis and south of Santa Paula.

“It’s rugged and steep…only our best firefighters have access to work here,” Johnson said. “There’s an aircraft operating there to assess the situation. They’re coming up with multiple options. We’re not planning for just one option to work. So we’re identifying a primary alternative, a contingent operation there.”

Los Angeles County Department fire behavior analyst Drew Smith explained during the press conference that with strong winds, embers can travel up to 3 miles and create large fire growth. After two years of above-average rainfall led to robust grass growth, the grass is now dry, making good fire fuel for dry and windy conditions, he said.

“The fire danger remains extremely high,” Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff said.

More than 14,000 evacuation notices were sent to evacuation areas. Fryhoff said officials do not know the exact number of people evacuated at this time.

It is unknown how many houses were destroyed or damaged by the fire. Authorities said 10 damage assessment teams went to the area to make a detailed accounting of the damage.