The blaze – dubbed the Coastal Fire – ignited near a water treatment facility between Laguna Niguel and Laguna Beach at 2.44pm local time, according to ABC7, and had grown to almost 200 acres by 8pm.
At least 20 homes were engulfed in flames and about 100 homes were potentially in the path of the Coastal fire, Orange County Sheriff’s Capt. Virgil Asuncion said.
The flames were fanned by gusty ocean winds and has whipped across hiking trails in the hills, already engulfing 20 homes in the exclusive enclave, where properties regularly sell for millions of dollars. But the winds were dying down on Wednesday night.
The fire is not currently threatening Laguna Beach itself, but has forced hundreds of people to evacuate from neighboring Laguna Niguel. No injuries were reported as a result of the fire.
‘We have the entire region focused on this fire right now to make sure we have every fire engine available in the area to put this fire out,’ said Orange County Supervisor Lisa Bartlett.
The fire was 0 per cent contained and a local emergency order remained in place in Laguna Niguel as of Wednesday night, as firefighters fought to put out the fires in an effort to stop the blaze from spreading further.
The hilltop city of about 65,000 people is just inland from the coastal city of Laguna Beach about 50 miles south of Los Angeles. Laguna Beach has been home over the years to famous faces including Diane Keaton, Bette Midler screenwriter and producer Ryan Murphy, and Hollywood’s Golden Age star, Bette Davis.
Dry brush covers the surrounding hills and canyons, as California experiences historic drought.
‘Unfortunately I think this is what we’re going to be experiencing over the next several weeks and years,’ said Fennessy.
‘The vegetation is so dry it is not taking much for the fire to take off running and burn very quickly.’
Ground and air crews from the Orange County Fire Authority and Laguna Beach Fire Department were working to extinguish flames moving uphill through light and moderately dense vegetation.
Winds gusting up to 20 mph were fanning the flames, and relative humidity in the area was measured at 52 percent, said Mark Moede, from the National Weather Service.
‘Gusts were up to 25 mph when the fire started,’ Moede said at about 5pm.
‘It will stay breezy for the next hour or so, but should drop-off as the sun drops below the horizon.’
The last major fire in the area was the Emerald fire on February 24.
The earlier fire grew to about 150 acres before it was extinguished.
The first three months of 2022 have been the driest on record.
Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, responded on Tuesday by pledging to spend $100 million on a statewide advertising campaign to encourage water conservation.
The campaign will include traditional radio and television spots while also paying people with large followings on social media to urge others to save water.
He also promised to spend an $211 million to conserve more water in state government buildings by replacing plumbing fixtures and irrigation controls.