*

Over 10,000 people evacuated due to wildfire near Los

Angeles

*

Firefighters struggle against blaze driven by Santa Ana

winds

*

California wildfires burn over three times more land than

last

year

(Updates acreage in paragraph 4, add details on home losses in

6)

By David Swanson and Kanishka Singh

SANTA PAULA, California, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Over 10,000

people were ordered to evacuate from a wildfire northwest of Los

Angeles as fierce seasonal winds blew flames into ranches and

neighborhoods, destroying dozens of homes, authorities said on

Thursday.

Firefighters and police cleared residents from neighborhoods

near Camarillo before homes were set ablaze by embers blown two

miles (3.2 km) from the fire front, Ventura County fire

department Captain Tony McHale said.

"It's like trying to put out a blowtorch with a squirt gun,"

said McHale of the fire, which started in a hillside canyon on

Wednesday then tore west, driven by Santa Ana winds.

Fueled by abundant grass and scrub, with wind gusts up to 80

mph (130 kph), the blaze had burned over 20,000 acres (8,094

hectares) by Thursday evening, authorities said.

Several civilians were injured and a "significant" number of

homes, businesses and other structures destroyed, McHale said.

The Los Angeles Times said it had counted over 90 destroyed

homes. More than 30,000 people live in the potential path of the

fire, according to the California Department of Forestry and

Fire Protection or Cal Fire.

A red flag warning for high winds was in effect until

Friday.

Climate scientists say warming temperatures have created wet

winters that allowed California's coastal chaparral - small

trees, shrubs and bushes - to thrive. Record-high temperatures

this summer dried out hillsides, priming them for wildfire.

The United States is experiencing a strong wildfire year

with 8.1 million acres burned to date, compared with an annual,

full-year average of around 7 million acres over the last

decade, according to National Interagency Fire Center data.

California wildfires have so far this year burned more than

three times as much land as last year at this time when the

state's fire season was more benign, according to Cal Fire data.