Photo: Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty
Dozens of people were forced to evacuate their homes near Laguna Beach after a quick-moving wildfire broke out on Wednesday, according to officials.
Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times via Getty
Voluntary evacuation orderswere issuedfor the area south of Flying Cloud Drive and Pacific Island Drive to the intersection of Pacific Island Drive and Crown Valley Parkway as well.
As of 6 a.m. Thursday, the fire was estimated at 199 acres in size,per the OCFD’s Twitter page.
Southern California Edison said ina report released publiclyWednesday night that there was “circuit activity occurring close in time to the reported time of the fire.”
In a statement released Wednesday night, Southern California Edison spokesperson David Eisenhauer said, “Our thoughts are with the community members whose homes have been damaged and those who have been evacuated because of the Coastal Fire and we are coordinating with fire agencies as needed to ensure firefighter safety.”
“Our top priority is the safety of customers, employees and communities,” he added, “which is why we continue to enhance our wildfire mitigation efforts through grid hardening, situational awareness and enhanced operational practices.”
OCFA Chief Brian Fennessy said winds helped fan the flames,per CBS Los Angeles.
“What we experienced was a fire, wind-driven, down a relatively level flat terrain, until it hit the side of that slope,” Fennessy explained. “And fire is always going to run uphill faster, wind or no wind. But when you have that strong a wind blowing that fire uphill. And if you’re familiar with that area, it is extremely steep, extremely thick vegetation that has not burned in probably decades.”
He continued, “Once it’s got ahold, and started up that hill, I think we all saw that, as soon as I got to my car at headquarters I could see that tremendous smoke column, and we knew that we had a significant fire.”
No injuries or deaths have been reported.
source: people.com
