The Airport Fire continues to burn in Orange County, expanding to over 22,000 acres as of 6:30 a.m. Wednesday as it continued moving towards Lake Elsinore, with firefighters also reporting the first damaged structures.
OC Fire Authority Captain Steve Concialdi told Voice of OC that the fire jumped Ortega Highway overnight and that they can confirm some property was damaged.
“We can confirm that there have been structures that were damaged or destroyed in the communities along Ortega Highway,” Concialdi said. “We have damage assessment teams that will be going out today and the next few days to assess all possible damage.”
While the fire is still at 0% containment as of 9 a.m., Concialdi said lower temperatures on Tuesday night helped overnight firefighting efforts.
“The first night it was 90 degrees still at night. Last night it was 60 degrees out there so we got great recovery – that helps the fire laydown, helps our crews get in there to suppress the fire,” Concialdi said.
There’s a series of evacuation orders on the west side of Lake Elsinore in Riverside County as the fire continues moving in that direction, according to CalFire’s situation map.
Last night, there were over 600 firefighters on the ground, with officials noting they’re trying to get more support but are struggling due to other ongoing wildfires in Southern California.
On Tuesday evening, officials also reported new injuries from the fire, saying a total five firefighters were injured battling the blaze and two civilians were also hurt in a Tuesday evening update on CalFire’s website.
On Wednesday morning, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced incoming federal funding for the Airport Fire – meaning the Federal Emergency Management Agency will reimburse 75% of firefighting costs through grants.
“California is continuing to see extreme fire behavior across multiple locations in Southern California, where hot, dry weather has led to rapid fire growth,” Newsom said in a Wednesday morning news release.
A CalFire situation report from late Tuesday night – the most recently available – notes there were 10,500 structures endangered from the Airport Fire.
No new evacuation orders in Orange County were issued for Wednesday as of 9 a.m.
On Tuesday, the OC Fire Authority announced an evacuation warning for portions of Coto de Caza.
Officials already called for mandatory evacuations in parts of Rancho Santa Margarita’s Robinson Ranch Monday, along with evacuation orders for homes in the Trabuco Highlands Homeowners Association and the Trabuco Highland Apartment Complex.
Click here for a link to the evacuation map.
Officials have also closed many of the roads leading up to the canyons including all of Ortega Highway and Caspers Wilderness Park, which are both under evacuation orders as of Tuesday afternoon.
At a Monday night news conference, OCFA Deputy Chief of Operation TJ McGovern said OC Public Works staff accidentally started the fire Monday afternoon when a spark from heavy equipment happened as they were placing boulders to block off vegetation on Trabuco Creek road.
At a Tuesday news conference, OC Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy said the separate fires in San Bernardino County and Los Angeles County are stretching firefighting resources thin.
“One of the challenges we’re having is competition with other large fires in Southern California,” Fennessy said Tuesday afternoon. “All of these fires are drawing down on the limited resources available to us.”
He also noted the steep terrain in the area, the vegetation growth from previous two wet winters that the recent heatwave just killed and the existing dead vegetation from previous droughts make it easy for the fire to spread.
“That’s a formula for the problems we’re experiencing today.”
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada.
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