A ferocious wildfire blazed through Southern California Tuesday, burning more than 45,500 acres, destroying at least 150 buildings and forcing tens of thousands of people to evacuate their homes in Ventura County. It is only the most recent blaze in what has been a deadly year of fires all over California; in October more than 42 people were killed in the Northern California fires, which left a large swath of the state’s wine country in ashes.

The latest fire began Monday evening and quickly moved to Santa Paula, Calif., scorching downtown before moving to Ventura, a middle-class coastal city about 60 miles north of Los Angeles. The fire had “exponential, huge growth” overnight, officials said. Conditions are “not going to get any better anytime soon and the fire is out of control,” said Eric Buschow, a sergeant with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office.

Governor Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in Ventura County Tuesday morning.

“This fire is very dangerous and spreading rapidly, but we’ll continue to attack it with all we’ve got,” he said in a statement. “It’s critical residents stay ready and evacuate immediately if told to do so.”