Simi Valley (California, US), 19 May (LaPresse/AP) – Over 17,000 people have been issued with evacuation orders in Southern California due to a wildfire threatening homes. The wind-fuelled Sandy fire was reported yesterday in the hills above Simi Valley, about 48 kilometres north-west of Los Angeles. By this morning, it had burned more than five square kilometres of dry vegetation and destroyed at least one home, according to the Ventura County Fire Department. The flames were initially fanned by gusts exceeding 48 km/h, but firefighters were aided by calmer winds overnight. Evacuation orders and advisories remain in place for several neighbourhoods in Simi Valley, a town of over 125,000 inhabitants. Meanwhile, firefighters are battling a 59-square-kilometre fire on Santa Rosa Island, off the coast of Southern California. The fire has destroyed a cabin and an equipment shed and forced the evacuation of 11 National Park Service employees.