It seemed like fires appeared all over Southern California on Tuesday: Topanga, Glendale, Acton, Riverside, San Diego. Most of them were quickly put out, but each of them likely shook the nerves of local residents looking at pictures of the major fires that started in Orange County on Monday.
The larger of the two Monday fires had been the Silverado fire near Irvine, but overnight and through Tuesday the Blue Ridge fire near Yorba Linda grew much faster.
The wind-powered Blue Ridge Fire broke out on the west end of Corona in Riverside County and quickly spread to Orange County. It was reported at 200 acres shortly after the ignition on Monday afternoon. By dark it had used 1,120 acres and was 0% in. It threatened homes in Yorba Linda and had exploded in the dark on Tuesday to 15,200 acres with 0% containment.
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More than 1,800 firefighters on the fire line for both fires in OC. # SilveradoFire:
12,600 acres
5% included
No structures lost # BlueRidgeFire:
15,200 acres
0% included
10 houses damaged
Houses subject to evacuation:
70,000 in Irvine
8,000 Lake Forest
2,500 in Yorba Linda pic.twitter.com/Vy8hQkPdQ3
– OCFA PIO (@OCFA_PIO), October 27, 2020
Originally referred to as the Green Fire and later renamed the Blue Ridge Fire, the fire was reported at 12:55 p.m. on Monday next to the Green River Golf Club, just off Green River Road and the Riverside (91) Freeway, according to the Corona Fire Department.
Ten homes were damaged in the fire, but the location and extent of the damage were not immediately available, according to the Orange County Fire Authority. More than 1,000 firefighters fought the fire.
A video posted on Twitter earlier that afternoon by Rob McMillan, chief of the ABC7 Inland Empire Bureau, showed that Highway 71 east of Chino Hills had been closed in both directions after the eastern edge of the fire jumped over the highway . McMillan later reported that firefighters said the flames on the east side of 71 had been extinguished but could not confirm it.
The fire just leapt over Highway 71 south of Chino Hills. The 71 is now closed in BOTH directions here. pic.twitter.com/GsL0yNuF0J
– Rob McMillan (@ abc7robmcmillan) October 27, 2020
Evacuations had been ordered in 5,958 homes in Chino Hills and 2,500 homes in Yorba Linda. In Brea, 276 homes have been evacuated, 680 homes have been voluntarily evacuated and no homes have been damaged there, officials said.
Unlike Monday, firefighters on the ground received help from drops of water from the helicopter on Tuesday as the strong winds subsided, said Orange County Fire Department captain Thanh Nguyen.
Flight operations continue to have a positive impact on the #BlueRidgeFire extinguishing flames to allow ground crews to extinguish the fire completely. Our flight operations will fight the flames all night. pic.twitter.com/iNdfhZVAGR
– OCFA PIO (@OCFA_PIO), October 27, 2020
Firefighters do not fear the fire will merge with the Silverado fire in the south, according to Nguyen.
More than 70,000 Orange County residents were forced to flee the Silverado fire. The fire, which began near the canyon of the same name, was blown up on Monday at nightfall from 4,000 noon to 7,200 acres. The wind-whipped fire seriously injured two firefighters and was only 5% contained today.
By Tuesday afternoon, the Silverado fire had blackened 12,600 acres and an additional 9,500 people had been evacuated in Lake Forest, according to the Orange County Fire Authority and Lake Forest officials. More than 750 firefighters were deployed to fight the flames and they received assistance from 14 helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft on Tuesday, OCFA fire chief Brian Fennessy said.
By Tuesday evening, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Safety would take command of the Silverado and Blue Ridge fires, according to Fennessy.
“We have very skilled people on the incident management team here in Orange County. If we could just handle one big fire that would be fine, but if you have two big fires to handle … honestly, the complexity goes beyond it. It’s great to have the state of California that we can rely on, ”admitted Fennessy too.
Fennessy said five firefighters were injured in the fire in Silverado. Two are in critical condition and the other three have been treated in local hospitals for minor injuries and, according to the fire chief, have been released.
The two OCFA firefighters were hospitalized with severe burns and remained in critical condition, said OCFA Captain Jason Fairchild. Officials have been told the next 24 to 48 hours will be critical to their recovery, Fairchild said. They are 26 and 31 years old. According to a department spokesman, both suffered second and third degree burns around 12:15 p.m. Monday, one over 65% of the body and the other over half the body. Both firefighters were intubated at the OC Global Medical Center in Santa Ana.
Evacuation orders for the Jackson Ranch and Williams Canyon areas have been issued, the OCFA said Tuesday at 6:39 a.m. Silverado and Trabuco Canyons along Live Oak Canyon have been evacuated, an agency spokesman said.
At 6:40 a.m., the OCFA announced an evacuation warning for Mission Viejo in the areas of El Toro Road to the north, Marguerite Parkway to the west, Upper Oso Reservoir to the east, and Los Alisos Boulevard to the south. With 554 homes in Mission Viejo under evacuation warning, the city has opened the Norman P. Murray Community and Senior Citizens’ Center as a shelter, officials said.
Later on Tuesday, a mandatory evacuation order was issued for the residents of Modjeska Canyon.
The fire broke out in the Santiago Canyon and Silverado Canyon streets at 6:47 a.m. on Monday.
Late Monday, Southern California Edison informed California officials that a lashing wire may have contacted his headmaster and started the fire. SCE sent a letter to the California Public Utilities Commission Monday evening confirming the presence of overhead electrical lines in the area where the fire broke out.
According to Leslie Lua, a spokesman for the agency, Los Angeles County firefighters went to Valley Drive and Old Topanga Canyon Road in Topanga to respond to a bushfire that was reported in the area at 12:44 p.m.
Forward progress was halted, but not before the fire hit two buildings – one of which was an outbuilding – and spread to the Valley Drive and Old Topanga Canyon Road area to brush, according to a county fire spokesman. He said the crews found failed power lines at the site.
Another bushfire broke out in Glendale on Tuesday afternoon. As a precaution, 14 houses were evacuated before the crews stopped the fire from spreading. Power was also turned off in the 900 block on West Mountain Street near Matilija Road.
According to Eliza Papazian, spokeswoman for the city of Glendale, the flames were first reported at 2:16 p.m. near Brand Park at the foot of the Verdugo Mountains. Just before 3 p.m., the fire spread to eight mornings, Papazian said.
At 4:05 p.m., the fire stopped spreading for 9 acres and all evacuations were lifted, the Glendale Fire Department reported.
The Glendale Water & Power crews were on site to restore power.
Smaller flames started in Acton, Riverside and San Diego on Tuesday and were quickly put down by firefighters.
The City News Service contributed to this report.
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