Firefighters are making progress in the battle against the Mountain Fire in Southern California

Firefighters continued to make progress Sunday against the devastating Mountain Fire in Ventura County. The blaze, which has burned more than 20,000 hectares and destroyed 134 structures, was about 26% contained early Sunday as firefighters continued to clear hot spots before winds were expected to clear Monday night, authorities said.

Ten areas remained under evacuation orders Sunday, including areas near Santa Paula and Somis. Eight more were under evacuation warnings, where residents were asked to prepare for possible evacuations. The latest information on evacuations was available on the Ventura County Sheriff’s Emergency Incident Dashboard.

“The impact on our community is profound and we are working diligently with firefighters from Ventura County and neighboring areas and a large number of emergency services to control this fire,” said Captain William Hutton, of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department, said during a press conference Saturday evening.

Light sea breezes and moderate humidity levels on Sunday aided authorities in their efforts to contain the fire, which began early Wednesday morning during a Santa Ana wind event. The fire has led to the evacuation of thousands and disrupted the lives of citizens in many communities. The cause is still under investigation.

Officials said they were continuing to monitor the changing weather as winds were expected to blow again Monday night into Tuesday morning – although they were not expected to be as strong as the winds that initially fueled the fire.

“It’s something we’re looking at very closely,” National Weather Service meteorologist Ryan Walbrun said at a news conference late Saturday. “The wind speed right now doesn’t look as strong as when the fire started.”

More than 130 buildings were destroyed in the fire, most of which are homes. Another 46 were injured, said Justin Boyajian with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in Tulare County.

“We are doing everything we can, we are trying to help as much as we can for the people who lost their homes,” said Boyajian.

About 500 Southern California Edison customers were still without power in parts of Camarillo, Santa Paula and Somis, and it was not clear when power would be restored, said company spokesman David Eisenhauer.

“We still have to go in safely to assess the damage and repair it so it’s hard to say right now,” he said. “We know that this has been a very difficult time [residents] and we will act as soon as we can safely restore power to them.”

Residents were planning to gather Sunday night for a public meeting at Ventura County Fire Station 54 in Camarillo, where officials will answer residents’ questions and update them on progress on the fire.

Ventura County Fire Chief Dustin Gardner said during a news conference late Saturday that he understands people in the community are frustrated and need more information about what the recovery will look like. He said the district plans to bring together different service providers on Wednesday to help answer residents’ questions about the recovery process, he said. He appealed to be patient while the firefighters worked to stop the fire.

“We’re continuing to work hard … to get this fire out, fix things, shut things down and get things ready to get people back in,” Gardner said. “And that takes time.”