SAN CLEMENTE, Calif. — Flames took off near Portico Del Norte late Friday morning and did not slow down. By mid-afternoon the Norte Fire had burned 465 acres and damaged homes in San Juan Capistrano, CAL FIRE said.
Word of the fire came in just after 11:30 a.m. CAL FIRE put it at 10 acres at noon. An hour later it was 250 acres. The 2:39 p.m. update put it at 465 acres. Crews were hitting it from the ground and the air.
On Via La Mirada in San Juan Capistrano, four homes took damage, CAL FIRE reported at 2:37 p.m. Orange County Fire Authority Division 3 Chief Mark Backoff later put the count at six homes destroyed or damaged, according to CNN. Heat exhaustion sent one firefighter for treatment, Backoff said.
Orders to leave covered part of San Juan Capistrano — zones SJC04, SJC05 and SJC10 — and part of San Clemente, zones SCL12 and SCL13. USA TODAY published the zone list. Anyone displaced could shelter at the San Juan Capistrano Community Center, 25925 Camino del Avion, or at 100 Calle Seville in San Clemente, CAL FIRE said.
Sheriff’s deputies went door to door in the order areas, CNN reported. Ten schools let out early and after-school programs were canceled, according to the Capistrano Unified School District announcement cited by CNN.
Wind did much of the work. Gusts reached 25 mph, CNN reported, and the National Weather Service in Los Angeles had warned of critical fire weather across southwest California through Saturday because of Santa Ana winds, according to USA TODAY.
CAL FIRE listed the cause as under investigation. The fire is one of several that have broken out in Southern California since Thursday as the Santa Ana winds arrived, CNN reported.
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