Homes Destroyed, Structures Lost In Growing Airport Fire Wednesday

For Wednesday updates on the Airport Fire, please read Patch's latest coverage here.

TRABUCO CANYON, CA — The quick-moving Airport Fire ballooned to 22,376 acres by Tuesday night, triggering mandatory evacuations in both Orange and Riverside counties, unhealthy air quality across the region and several rescues.

The wind-driven fire created walls of flames that could be seen in the night sky more than 30 miles away while thousands of residents in two counties remained on edge, ready to evacuate at a moment's notice.

As of 7 a.m. Wednesday, the fire was raging past 22,000 acres with zero containment, CalFire reported.

According to KTLA, several structures and even some homes were lost in the blaze. It was not immediately known how many.

At 10 p.m. Tuesday, the blaze had expanded to 19,028 acres "and is growing," Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi warned. Authorities issued a mandatory evacuation order for areas along Ortega Highway, near Caspers Park, shortly after shutting the road down in both directions.

Talbot Hayes of the Cleveland National Forest said, "Three things are driving the fire right now and that's weather, fuel and topography."

Even though Tuesday "was actually a cooler day," temperatures were still in the high 90s, he said.

Firefighters were battling areas with grass as high as four feet with chaparral as high as 8 feet, Hayes said. The terrain is at times "barely hikeable even for our most fit firefighters."

Earlier Tuesday, CalFire upgraded evacuation warnings to evacuation orders in areas north of the Riverside County/San Diego County line, South of Lake Elsinore near the base of Ortega Highway, East of the Orange County/Riverside County line and West of South Main Divide Road/Grand Avenue.

"It has crested the North Main Divide and gone into Riverside County," Concialdi said.

Residents can view an interactive map of evacuations by following this link.

New evacuation warnings were also issued for Silverado Canyon, Coto de Caza — East Side (Zones 1 & 2) and Modjeska Canyon Tuesday, according to the OCFA.

The blaze, which has zero containment, is burning through "dense vegetation," Concialdi said.

Officials said "much of the terrain is steep and extremely difficult to access," putting increased reliance on water- and retardant-dropping aircraft.

The Airport Fire was reported just before 1:30 p.m. Monday along the 32200 block of Trabuco Creek Road, near the remote-controlled airplane airport in Trabuco Canyon.

The fire was initially reported as a mere seven acres at 2 p.m. before exploding to 1,300 less than two hours later.

Tuesday, the flames burned steep canyons and hillsides in Riverside County, creating a threat in Temescal Valley and Lake Elsinore area, as well as the western reaches in unincorporated Murrieta and Temecula. Many of those communities were under evacuation orders Tuesday night.

See the evacuation updates here. Also, Cal Fire has an online tool that lets residents and business owners quickly determine the evacuation status for their street address. Find the tool here.

A list of evacuation centers for humans and animals can be found here.

Related: Ortega Highway Closed In Both Directions Due To Airport Fire (note: find all road closures here)

Possible Cause of Fire Revealed, Rescues Carried Out

Orange County Fire Authority Deputy Chief TJ McGovern said during a Monday night news conference that Orange County Public Works crews were working in the area near Trabuco Creek Road, using heavy equipment to place boulders. The intention was to replace barriers for restricting access to area vegetation.

The work sparked the blaze, according to McGovern.

"The fire is classified as unintentional. The cause of the fire was a spark from heavy equipment," McGovern said. "After placing a load of boulders, the operators began seeing smoke coming from the area of the loader's basket.

"The operator and the supervisor used multiple fire extinguishers and the loaders to attempt to extinguish the fire while 911 was being called."

The fire spread quickly amid bone-dry conditions, extreme heat and unfavorable terrain.

County and Cleveland National Forest firefighters aggressively attacked the blaze from the ground and the air with engine strike teams, hand crews, dozers, helicopters and a fixed-wing aircraft.

The agency was using new firefighting helicopters that can dump 1,000 gallons of water on the flames, OCFA Capt. Sean Doran said.

Two firefighters sustained heat-related injuries and were taken to a local hospital. One civilian was taken to a local hospital due to smoke inhalation. All are expected to make a full recovery, authorities said.

In addition, a 3-year-old child and their parents who were out hiking on a trail were airlifted to safety, as well as a man and his cats from his home in the area, the OCFA said.

Related article:

Airport Fire Jumps Ortega Highway In Notorious Decker Canyon