A wind-driven brush fire on the west end of Corona quickly spread into Orange County, threatening homes in Yorba Linda and blackening thousands of acres Monday evening.
Initially called the Green Fire and later renamed the Blue Ridge Fire, the blaze was reported at 12:55 p.m. adjacent to the Green River Golf Club, just off of Green River Road and the Riverside (91) Freeway, according to the Corona Fire Department.
By 5:45 p.m., 1,170 homes were under evacuation orders, including homes in the Hidden Hills community and Yorba Linda, north of the Riverside (91) Freeway, east of Gypsum Canyon, according to the Orange County Fire Authority and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Voluntary evacuations were urged for 481 homes, according to the Orange County Fire Authority. One home was damaged, but the location and extent of damage was not immediately available.
Evacuation orders were also issued Monday night in Chino Hills in San Bernardino County, including the areas of Carbon Canyon, Sleepy Hollow and Vellano Country Club Estates, according to the Chino Hills Police Department.
Cal Fire reported about 7:45 p.m. that the blaze had spread to 3,000 acres and was 0% contained.
The high winds grounded aircraft used to battle fires for most of the day, but by late Monday afternoon, a DC-10 was up in the air making air drops in Yorba Linda, Fennessy said.
“But we’re also told we can expect (winds) to increase in the early morning hours until they die off sometime tomorrow afternoon,” he said.
About 550 firefighters were battling the blaze. Multiple engine crews from the city and Riverside County Fire Department encountered flames moving rapidly west up a hillside, powered by 30 mph Santa Ana winds.
The head of the fire entered Orange County about 1:20 p.m., and the flames raced toward Yorba Linda, posing a threat to scores of residences.
There was no immediate word on the cause of the fire.