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A wind-whipped wildfire exploded early Tuesday in Southern California, forcing more than 27,000 people to evacuate and causing at least one death.

Ventura County Fire officials said “The Thomas Fire” broke out Monday evening east of Santa Paula, located about 60 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The fire has grown to 31,000 acres has destroyed 150 structures, according to the Ventura County Fire Department.

“The prospects for containment are not good,” Ventura County Fire Chief Mark Lorenzen said at a news conference. “Really, Mother Nature is going to decide when we have the ability to put it out because it is pushing hard with the wind.”

The Thomas Fire rages on the side of a hill early Tuesday in Ventura County, Calif (VCFD PIO)

Officials said one person had died in an auto accident related to the fire, but did not give any details. An injury to a firefighter has also been reported, according to officials.

There is zero percent containment of the fire, officials said at a Monday night press conference. A total of 1,000 firefighters are battling the fire, and power outages have been reported in Santa Paula, Camarillo, Ventura and Santa Barbara.

Southern California Edison said nearly 180,000 customers in the Ventura County area were without service.

Mandatory evacuations were ordered ordered for East Ventura, north of Foothill Road. (VCFD PIO)

Ventura County Fire Public Information Officer Rick Macklin told Fox News around 8,700 homes have been evacuated so far, and fire crews are making night time water drops in Ventura to fight the blaze.

The fire is currently burning chaparral, a brush that has not burned in 20 years. The cause of the fire is undetermined.

“The fire growth is just absolutely exponential,” Lorenzen said. “All that firefighters can do when we have winds like this is get out ahead, evacuate people, and protect structures.”

Authorities say Ventura, a city of over 100,000 people 12 miles away, is expected to feel the effects of the fire soon. Thomas Aquinas College, a school with about 350 students, has also been evacuated.

Evacuation shelters have been set up at the Miners Building at the Ventura County Fairgrounds and Nordhoff High School, FOX11 Los Angeles reported.

Flames from a wildfire loom up over a neighborhood in Santa Paula, Calf., Monday, Dec. 4, 2017. Ventura County fire officials say the blaze broke out Monday east of Santa Paula, a city of 30,000 people about 60 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. (Megan Diskin/The Ventura County Star via AP)

Residents located outside the evacuation zone watched the blaze shift along the nearby hills overnight, and debated whether they should stay or go.

“I just hope we’re all right,” Taylor Penny told the Los Angeles Times.

The National Weather Service said winds of 43 mph with gusts over 60 mph have been reported in the area, and are expected to continue throughout the day.

“Damaging #SantaAnaWinds and very critical fire weather conditions today and again late Wed night-Thu,” the weather service said on Twitter. “Main impacts include downed trees/powerlines, blowing dust, power outages, and very rapid fire spread.”