Firefighters braced for another day battling the massive Airport Fire Saturday in Riverside and Orange counties, where 23,494 acres have been charred with containment remaining at 9%.
“The weather has been great with cooler temperatures, the marine layer and the higher, relative humidity,” Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi told City News Service on Saturday.
Officials said crews were having “notable success in increasing containment” in areas such as Lake Elsinore, Decker Canyon Road and Lakeland Village.
With weather conditions improving and firefighters making progress in the battle, some evacuation orders were reduced to voluntary warnings in both counties, although some orders remained in effect.
Residents can visit go.genasys.com/11hh53 to determine if their homes are impacted by evacuation orders or warnings.
Evacuation centers were open at Temescal Canyon High School in Lake Elsinore and Santiago High School in Corona. Jurupa Valley Animal Shelter at 6851 Van Buren Blvd. was accepting pets, while a large animal shelter was established at the Murrieta Equestrian Center at 42670 Juniper St.
Road closures remained in place Saturday at:
— Trabuco Canyon and Trabuco Creek roads;
— El Toro and Live Oak Canyon roads; and
— Ortega Highway at Nichols Institute.
A series of other “soft closures” remained in place, allowing access for residents. Full details on closures were available at fire.ca.gov/incidents/2024/9/9/airport-fire.
Officials said 11 firefighters had suffered minor injuries fighting the blaze, many of them heat-related, while two civilians were also injured, one with an unknown medical condition and the other suffering burn injuries.
Cal Fire said 107 residential, commercial and other structures were destroyed, and another 12 were damaged.
The Airport Fire began at about 1 p.m. Monday near Trabuco Canyon Road in the area of the remote-controlled airplane airport, OCFA Capt. Sean Doran said. Officials said the fire was sparked by a county public works crew using heavy equipment. The cause was deemed accidental.
By Tuesday morning, the fire had raced up the canyons and hillsides and crested into Riverside County, burning toward the El Cariso and Lake Elsinore areas, where evacuation warnings and orders were issued.
Some 1,949 personnel were involved in the firefight, including 36 crews, 253 engines, 31 dozers, 15 water tenders and 10 helicopters.
The Airport Fire was one of three large wildfires burning in Southern California this weekend. The Line Fire had burned 38,074 acres in San Bernardino County by Saturday morning and was 25% contained, while the Bridge Fire in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties had burned 52,960 acres and was at 3% containment.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District extended an air quality advisory until at least 11 p.m. Saturday for most of the region due to smoke from all three major wildfires.
Cal Fire officials said Gov. Gavin Newsom has secured a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency “to help ensure the availability of vital resources to suppressing the Airport Fire.”