SANTA ANA, CA — Dangerous Santa Ana winds helped drive fast-moving brush fires through coastal Orange County on Friday, burning at least six homes and forcing thousands of residents to leave their neighborhoods. The fire spread quickly from San Clemente into San Juan Capistrano, where smoke darkened the sky and firefighters worked to protect houses threatened by the flames.
Officials said the blaze, known as the Norte fire, was still under an acre as of Friday evening, but the conditions around it made the situation far more serious. Two firefighters were taken to the hospital with heat-related injuries, and authorities said they had not yet determined what started the fire.
Evacuation orders spread as flames reached expensive coastal homes
By Friday night, about 16,000 residents had been ordered to evacuate, according to Orange County Fire Authority Chief TJ McGovern. Evacuation shelters opened in both San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano as crews tried to keep the fire from spreading farther into hillside neighborhoods.
Black smoke rose over tennis courts, swimming pools and luxury coastal properties while firefighters hosed down burning structures in San Juan Capistrano. Some homeowners used garden hoses and other water sources to wet down their homes before leaving, hoping to buy time before they complied with evacuation orders.
Howard Hart, a San Juan Capistrano councilmember, said he and his wife moved propane tanks away from their house and sprayed water on the roof before evacuating with a go bag. Laura Hart, who has lived in the community for more than five decades, said it was the first time she had ever been forced to evacuate because of fire.
Residents and local leaders described how quickly the fire closed in
Local officials said the fire moved so fast that many people had little time to prepare. San Clemente Mayor Rick Loeffler said the blaze could have been much worse if the winds had been slightly stronger or shifted in a different direction.
Victor Cabral, a San Clemente council member, said the fire was pressing right up against the city’s edge on the north side. Nearby residents also watched as smoke filled the air and helicopters and fire trucks passed overhead, turning a familiar coastal scene into one of alarm and uncertainty.
In Dana Point, just north of San Clemente, Wyoming resident Shannon Needham said she was visiting her mother at an assisted living facility when she learned about the fire. Staff told her two buses would be ready if an evacuation became necessary, and she described the smoke as so heavy it made the sky look dark.
Santa Ana winds, heat and dry weather kept fire danger elevated
The Orange County fires were part of a larger pattern across Southern California as dry, warm gusts known as Santa Anas pushed inland air toward the coast. The National Weather Service said the strongest winds were expected through Friday afternoon, but conditions that raise wildfire danger were likely to continue through Saturday night.
A heat advisory remained in effect until 8 p.m. Saturday for the Orange County and San Diego County coasts. The weather service also posted a red flag warning for parts of central and Northern California through Friday morning, warning that any new fires could spread quickly.
Officials said nearby areas faced additional danger because the landscape is steep and brushy, which can help flames move rapidly toward homes. That combination of wind, dryness and heat left firefighters working across a broad stretch of the state.
Power shutoffs left more than one hundred thousand California customers in the dark
Utilities also cut electricity to reduce the chance that power equipment could ignite new fires. More than 118,000 customers in California were without power Friday, according to poweroutage.com, as companies used preventive shutoffs during the windy and dry conditions.
The outages added to the disruption already caused by the fires. In Southern California, a separate blaze near the Marine Corps base at Camp Pendleton shut down a section of Interstate 5 for hours, slowing a major route between Orange County and San Diego and adding hours to commuters’ trips.
Officials have increasingly relied on these shutoffs in recent years after some of the state’s worst wildfires were linked to electrical equipment. The move has become a regular part of wildfire response when weather conditions make the risk especially high.
Schools closed and familiar coastal cities faced a rare fire threat
Nine schools were closed Friday in San Juan Capistrano, according to the Capistrano Unified School District, as families tried to manage evacuations and changing conditions. The disruption hit two communities that are better known for tourism, trails and beach life than for this kind of emergency.
San Juan Capistrano, home to about 35,000 people, is known for horse trails and the historic Mission San Juan Capistrano. San Clemente, with about 62,000 residents, is often described as a Spanish village by the sea and is popular with surfers and beachgoers.
That image was replaced Friday by smoke, sirens and emergency traffic as the fire burned near homes on the coastal hillsides. For longtime residents, the event was a reminder that even communities accustomed to warm, dry weather can face sudden wildfire danger when wind and heat align.
