TIME

Raging Wildfire in Orange County Causes Mandatory Evacuations

Southern California Wildfire
Mark Boster—Los Angeles Times/AP More than 280 firefighters are aided by water dropping helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft as they battle a 1,300-acre fire in Silverado Canyon, Calif., on Sept. 12, 2014.

As of Saturday morning the Silverado Canyon fire was just 10% contained as mandatory evacuations were underway

By 9 a.m. Saturday, a large fire in Orange County, California had scorched 1,600 acres less than 24 hours after it had started, prompting mandatory evacuations of homes in Silverado Canyon.

Three firefighters suffered minor injuries but were released from the hospital, reports the Los Angeles Times. Thirty homes were evacuated along Silverado Canyon Road, and the fire was just 10% contained as of Saturday morning, according to the Orange County Register. More than 700 firefighters are now battling the blaze.

Fueled by hot weather and tinder-dry vegetation, the brush fire has spread into difficult-to-reach terrain, firefighters said, burning chaparral and oak trees that “had not burned in several years,” Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Larry Kurtz said.

Water-dropping aircraft assisted firefighters trying to hold back flames atop ridgelines near Corona.

The fire was first reported Friday morning at 10:32.

[LA Times]

 

Tap to read full story

Your browser is out of date. Please update your browser at http://update.microsoft.com


YOU BROKE TIME.COM!

Dear TIME Reader,

As a regular visitor to TIME.com, we are sure you enjoy all the great journalism created by our editors and reporters. Great journalism has great value, and it costs money to make it. One of the main ways we cover our costs is through advertising.

The use of software that blocks ads limits our ability to provide you with the journalism you enjoy. Consider turning your Ad Blocker off so that we can continue to provide the world class journalism you have become accustomed to.

The TIME Team