“The area hardest hit is still smoldering, so no one is allowed in,” he said.

Two days earlier, 29 horses were killed by the Creek Fire at a ranch in Sylmar in the San Fernando Valley, according to a statement from the Department of Animal Care and Control in Los Angeles County.

The department said that it arrived at the ranch on Tuesday morning and found a barn burning, its roof collapsing. Its officers immediately retrieved two horses and a puppy, then returned to the barn to rescue four more horses.

Flames blocked their entry to the barn. Additional officers arrived and were eventually able to rescue more horses, breaking padlocks on stalls in order to get them out. The department transported three horses to Pierce College nearby, where one was euthanized because its injuries were so severe.

Southern California is one of the nation’s largest horse-racing centers, thanks to an inviting climate where horses can be run year-round. San Luis Rey serves as a hub to trainers and others shuttling back and forth between the courses of the region’s racing circuit, Del Mar, Santa Anita Park and Los Alamitos Race Course.

Video from the San Luis Rey fire showed pandemonium as horses scrambled free, kicking dust into the air as flames began to encroach on the property. One trainer, Cliff Sise, told a local CBS station that he had been unable to rescue his horse from a burning barn.