The wind-driven Blue Ridge Fire in Yorba Linda that has burned 14,334 acres, destroyed a structure and damaged seven others was 16% contained Wednesday and evacuation orders and warnings were lifted.
High winds, which grounded firefighting aircraft on Monday, were much less of a factor on Wednesday.
“The winds we’ve had today were very calm,” said Firefighter Edwin Zuniga, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. “I haven’t seen a big push. It’s a light breeze, but nothing significant.”
Firefighters are not engaged in any active fire fronts, Zuniga said.
“That tells us the fire activity is very minimal,” Zuniga said.
Some roads in the area have started to reopen — one of two lanes will be open on southbound Corona (71) Freeway while crews fix a fire-damaged guardrail. Repairs are expected to be completed by 4 p.m. Thursday.
Traffic was also being allowed on the Riverside (91) Freeway connectors to the Chino Valley Freeway, a Caltrans spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, state Route 142 between Chino Hills Parkway to Portola Parkway reopened at 5 p.m., Caltrans said.
The estimation of burned acreage was lowered Tuesday night from about 15,200, according to Orange County Fire Authority spokesman Steve Concialdi. As of Wednesday morning, there was still no word on the cause of the fire.
Travis Wylie, a 36-year-old captain with Cal Fire out of San Bernardino, told City News Service the fire was “very active,” saying crews started to get a handle on flames around 3 a.m. Wednesday, when the Santa Ana winds started to die down. “With the fuel moistures and everything, it’s kind of burning erratic. The fuel moistures are really low.”
Wylie said he was also training two rookie firefighters, and the fire provided invaluable experience for them as they were able to practice tactics like emergency back-burning as a defensive mechanism.
The brush fire, initially called the Green Fire, was reported at 12:55 p.m. Monday next to the Green River Golf Club, off of Green River Road and the Riverside Freeway in Corona, according to the Corona Fire Department.
Evacuations were ordered for 5,958 homes in Chino Hills and 2,500 in Yorba Linda. In Brea, 276 homes were ordered evacuated, 680 homes voluntarily evacuated and no homes were damaged, officials said.
Flames from two small spot fires jumped the Corona Freeway Tuesday, but were quickly extinguished, said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Jason Fairchild.
The OCFA issued evacuation orders about 11 p.m. Monday for residents living in thousands of homes:
Mandatory evacuations were issued just after midnight Tuesday by Brea city officials for residents in all of Carbon Canyon, east of Brea Hills to the county line, including the Olinda Village and Hollydale neighborhoods, and voluntary evacuations were urged for the Olinda Ranch and Brea Hills areas.
Temporary evacuation points in Orange County were at the Brea Community Center, 695 Madison Way; Santiago Canyon College, 8045 E. Chapman Ave.; Woodbridge High School, 2 Meadowbrook, Irvine; Norman P. Murray Community Center, 24932 Veterans Way, Mission Viejo; El Toro High School, 25255 Toledo Way, Lake Forest, and Thomas Lasorda Jr. Field House, 4701 Casa Loma, Yorba Linda.
The Brea Community Center, El Toro High School and Lasorda Field House were open around the clock while the others were open until 9 p.m., but Woodbridge High will be open overnight if needed.
About 2 a.m. Tuesday, L.A. County officials issued an evacuation warning for an area south of Diamond Bar, bordered by Grand Avenue to the north, Diamond Bar Boulevard to the west, the Los Angeles/Orange county line to the south and the Los Angeles/San Bernardino county line to the east. It was rescinded about 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued at 4:25 a.m. Tuesday in the San Bernardino County city of Chino Hills for residents south of Soquel Canyon Parkway, including the entire area of Bell Ridge Drive and Golden Terrace Drive on the west to Misty Hill Drive on the east.
The head of the fire entered Orange County about 1:20 p.m. Monday, and the flames raced toward Yorba Linda, posing a threat to scores of residences
A grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency was secured Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom, which will assist local and state agencies responding to the fire to apply for 75% reimbursement of their eligible firefighting costs.
Orange County Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Michelle Steel signed an emergency declaration Tuesday and asked Newsom to sign one as well for the county to free up more funding.
Because of the wildfires, the Santa Ana Zoo was sheltering about 150 animals from the Orange County Zoo, located in Irvine Regional Park.
Animals were also being sheltered at the OC Fair and Events Center in Costa Mesa and at the Los Alamitos Race Course in Cypress.