Update 9:13 p.m.: Ventura County fire officials say an 8,000-acre wildfire has topped a ridge and reached the Pacific Coast Highway, the Associated Press reported.

Fire Capt. Bill Nash says the fire reached the PCH — which had been closed for the second time in a day — at about 9 p.m. Thursday night.

Nash says the wildfire is still growing and the 10 percent containment the department had cited earlier was likely to be reduced.

By sunset firefighters had gained ground against the blaze that broke out along U.S. 101 and threatened 2,000 homes.

But a late surged forced a new series of evacuations and the PCH shutdown.

No one has been injured and no homes have been destroyed, but 25 homes were damaged.

Update 7:46 p.m.: A wildfire fanned by gusty Santa Ana winds raged along the fringes of Southern California communities on Thursday, forcing the evacuation of homes and a university while setting recreational vehicles ablaze, the Associated Press reported. KPCC's Ben Bergman reports the fire is now estimated to have consumed about 8,000 acres

The blaze erupted during morning rush hour along U.S. 101 in the Camarillo area about 50 miles northwest of Los Angeles. It was quickly spread by the winds, which also pushed other damaging blazes across the region.

Flames quickly moved down slopes toward subdivisions, according to the Ventura County Fire Department. Mo.