Fast-moving fire erupts near homes in Orange County, triggering evacuations

A fast-moving brush fire that erupted in Orange County Monday afternoon grew to roughly 1,300 acres in less than three hours and prompted evacuations in Trabuco Canyon.

The blaze, dubbed the Airport fire, started about 1:30 p.m. along the 32200 block of Trabuco Creek Road near a remote-controlled airplane airport in Trabuco Canyon. By 2 p.m., it had burned at least 7 acres. By 4 p.m. it had grown to 800 acres and a half-hour later was already at 1,300 acres, according to fire officials.

Firefighters are attacking the blaze from the ground and air using water-dropping helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. The focus so far has been protecting nearby homes, said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Sean Doran.

“We’re focusing our resources on defending those communities,” he said. “We have a heavy presence to make sure, if there’s any homes or people threatened, that’s our first priority.”

The Orange County Sheriff Department encouraged residents living along Rose Canyon Road, Trabuco Creek Road, Trabuco Canyon Road, Trabuco Oaks Drive, Joplin Loop and Cook’s Corner to evacuate. Homes in the Robinson Ranch community in Trabuco Canyon are under mandatory evacuation orders.

People watch the rapidly growing Airport fire burning in Trabuco Canyon as seen from Coyote Canyon trail, inside O’Neill Regional Park.

(Don Kelsen)

A temporary evacuation center has been set up at the Bell Tower Regional Community Center at 22232 El Paseo in Rancho Santa Margarita. A large-animal shelter has been established at 88 Fair Drive in Costa Mesa.

Officials have not determined the cause of the fire.

California

Skies above Southern California wildfire looked like ‘a nuclear warhead had been set off’

Wildfires scorch thousands of acres in mountain communities of San Bernardino County near Lake Arrowhead and in the Angeles National Forest north of Glendora.

The fire started amid an extended heat wave that has scorched Southern California for days. Temperatures in the Orange County canyon community reached into the high 90s Monday afternoon, and an excessive heat warning was in place through Tuesday night, said Sam Zuber, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego.

And firefighters in the area aren’t likely to see much relief overnight. Temperatures are expected to linger in the 70s with only about 35% humidity, Zuber said.

The fire was burning so intensely that it created pyrocumulonimbus clouds, also known as thunder clouds. Those clouds, which can create strong winds and lightning strikes, also were seen over the weekend above the Line fire burning in San Bernardino County.

“It doesn’t look like there’s any lightning within the cloud yet,” Zuber said. “But, unfortunately, this is just beginning so if it gets stronger, hotter, larger it’s definitely not out of the question.”