STORY LAST UPDATED: 3:14 p.m. Oct. 27
Orange County is continuing to fight fires on two fronts after the Silverado Canyon Fire broke out Monday morning, followed by the Blue Ridge Fire that afternoon.
Editor’s Note: See our full coverage of OC’s wildfires HERE. We are Orange County’s only nonprofit and nonpartisan newsroom bringing you comprehensive coverage of local wildfires ad-free and paywall-free. If you can, please make a tax-deductible donation to support our news coverage.
The Orange County Fire Authority is serving as the main organization handling the fire, with help from surrounding local fire departments including some from LA County.
According to the most recent updates by OCFA, firefighters are still out trying to contain both fires, with two members of a hand crew critically injured in the Silverado Fire yesterday. The last public update on their condition was yesterday evening.
By 10 a.m., fire officials said 1,000 firefighters are out fighting the Blue Ridge Fire, with 10 homes damaged. By noon, authorities said the blaze spread to more than 15,000 acres, only 40 minutes after they said the fire was at around 10,400 acres.
OCFA also announced they were able to get 14 helicopters in the air over the fire this morning after winds died down last night, a major shift from yesterday when high winds kept helicopters down nearly the entire day.
Evacuation orders are in effect for Yorba Linda, Lake Forest, Brea and the unincorporated Modjeska Canyon, with warnings for Tustin and Mission Viejo.
Evacuation orders first went into effect in Irvine. But as of this evening, evacuation orders were lifted in the areas of Great Park Blvd north to Irvine Boulevard and the 133 Toll Road east to Portola High School, as well as the commercial area west of Bake Pkwy and south of Irvine Blvd to Toledo Way, according to an announcement by Councilwoman Farrah Khan.
Silverado Fire
The Silverado Fire has expanded to 12,535 acres as of Tuesday afternoon, and is at 5% containment according to the OCFA.
More than 100,000 people have been evacuated due to this specific fire.
LIVE MAP: Silverado Fire
If the map below does not load, click here to view.
At 6 a.m, the city of Irvine reopened its evacuation centers according to their website, opening two high schools and seven community centers for the roughly 90,000 people displaced by the fire.
Currently, the OCFA is reporting no structures lost in the Silverado Fire, but have had to fight the blaze from the ground over most of the day and night due to high wind speeds until this morning.
While the cause of the fire is still unknown, Southern California Edison published a little noticed memo yesterday morning that said their equipment may have been involved in the cause of the fire. The investigation is ongoing. Orange County emergency response officials have never discussed publicly the Southern California Edison notice.
Evacuations
Irvine As of this evening, evacuation orders were lifted in the areas of Great Park Blvd north to Irvine Boulevard and the 133 Toll Road east to Portola High School, as well as the commercial area west of Bake Pkwy and south of Irvine Blvd to Toledo Way, according to an announcement Councilwoman Farrah Khan.
The first evacuation was ordered Monday morning for the Orchard Hills area. At 1:30 p.m. Monday a mandatory evacuation was added for the areas from Irvine Boulevard south to Trabuco Road, and form Jeffrey Road East to Portola High School. At 5 p.m. Monday another mandatory evacuations was added for the area between Great Park and Bake Parkway, and north of Toledo until the city limits.
Lake Forest evacuated more than 20,000 homes at 1 p.m. Monday. At 3:30 p.m. Monday a mandatory evacuation for the Baker Ranch area was added, per Lake Forest. At 3:52 p.m. Monday voluntary evacuations were added for the Foothill Ranch area, per the Fire Authority. At 9:30 p.m. added a mandatory evacuation for the Portola Hills area, per the city of Lake Forest.
Jackson Ranch and Williams Canyon were added as mandatory evacuations at 6:40 a.m. Tuesday, per the Orange County Fire Authority.
A mandatory evacuation order was issued for Modjeska Canyon at 1:22 p.m., according to the Sheriff’s Dept.
Mission Viejo added evacuation warnings at 6:40 a.m. Tuesday for the area with these boundaries: El Toro Road to the north, Marguerite Parkway to the east (corrected from earlier when the Fire Authority said Marguerite Parkway to the west), Upper Oso Reservoir to the east and Los Alisos Boulevard to the south, per the Fire Authority.
The Silverado and Trabuco canyon areas along Live Oak Canyon are all under evacuation warning, but are not mandatory yet, per the Fire Authority.
Rancho Santa Margarita city staff updated late Monday to say no evacuations are ordered and to watch the Fire Authority for any changes.
Blue Ridge Fire
By 10 a.m., fire officials said 1,000 firefighters are out fighting the Blue Ridge Fire, with 10 homes damaged. By noon, authorities said the blaze spread to more than 15,000 acres, only 40 minutes after they said the fire was at around 10,400 acres.
Approximately 10,000 people have been evacuated
LIVE MAP: Blue Ridge Fire
If the map below does not load, click here to view.
The Thomas Lasorda Jr. Field House was established as an evacuation center hours after people were told to leave their homes yesterday, but officials have not announced any other evacuation centers in the Blue Ridge Fire area.
Evacuations
Yorba Linda was first evacuated at 1:55 p.m. Monday for the eastern edge of Yorba Linda — north of the 91 freeway, east of Gypsum Canyon and including Bryant Ranch Elementary, per the Orange County Fire Authority. At 4:30 pm. Monday the Hidden Hills community was added as a mandatory evacuation, per the Fire Authority.
Brea has issued mandatory evacuations for the Hollydale and Olinda Village areas. As of the early evening Tuesday, officials on Twitter said to expect the evacuation orders to remain overnight.
Carbon Canyon was given a mandatory evacuation at 11 p.m. Monday, per the Fire Authority from the county line to Summit Ranch on both the west and east sides of Carbon Canyon Road. This includes Sleepy Hollow, Oak Tree Downs, Pine Valley Estates, Western Hills and Summit Ranch on the west.
Brandon Pho is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member at Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at bpho@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @photherecord.