LOS ANGELES — An unseasonable heat wave and gusty Santa Ana winds fueled a brush fire that forced thousands of people to flee an affluent Orange County coastal community on Thursday, stoking fears that dangerous blazes could become more common in dry winter months.
Although containment lines held and firefighters kept flames from spreading into homes, authorities warned residents to stay vigilant through the weekend as more high temperatures and winds are expected.
Evacuation orders for Emerald Bay and Irvine Cove were lifted at 3 p.m., but residents should be prepared to evacuate again if needed, Laguna Beach Fire Chief Mike Garcia said.
“Just because they’re lifted doesn’t mean it’s completely safe,” Garcia said. “This week we’re going to have some high heat. We’re going to have a little wind. Fire weather exists, and it’s going to continue through the weekend.”
The Emerald fire broke out around 4 a.m. in the wilderness area between Laguna Beach and the community of Emerald Bay near Coast Highway. Thick clouds of smoke blanketed the entire beachside town as residents from Irvine Cove and Emerald Bay, two gated communities with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean, packed up their cars and fled in the dark.
Minutes earlier, dozens of Orange County sheriff’s deputies had raced to the neighborhoods to wake sleeping residents and urge them to leave. Deputies made announcements via loudspeaker from their patrol cars and knocked on doors as the ridgeline above the neighborhoods glistened.
Some looked out their windows to see the red glow of flames charging toward them. Santa Ana winds were gusting up to 40 mph when the first flames were spotted, officials said.
Officials say the fire underscores that dangerous blazes can erupt outside California’s traditional fire season, which typically begins late summer or early fall. Coastal Orange County hasn’t had significant rain since late December, and drier-than-normal brush paired with low humidity and temperatures in the high 80s created conditions that drastically raised fire risk.
“We no longer have a fire season. We have a fire year,” Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy said. “This is supposed to be the middle of winter, and we’re anticipating 80- to 90-degree weather. Even though the hillsides are green, it doesn’t take but low humidity and wind to cause fires to occur.”
“If this is any sign of what’s to come throughout the rest of the winter and spring, we’re in for a long year,” Fennessy added.
February, which is traditionally the wettest month in California, has been witheringly dry.
“We don’t even have a marine layer,” said Samantha Connolly, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego.
The Emerald fire charred 145 acres and was 20% contained early Thursday night, said Capt. Paul Holaday, a Fire Authority spokesman.
The fire hadn’t grown since Thursday morning, and crews would remain on site to increase containment overnight, Holaday said.
Authorities had 220 personnel fighting the fire at its peak, including eight strike teams and multiple firefighting helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
Holaday said firefighters would be working through the night and “probably through the weekend” on tactical patrols through the neighborhoods to watch for hot spots and flare-ups.
Hand crews would continue to work the line overnight Thursday, with efforts ramping up Friday morning, he said.
Although the fire appeared to be out when viewed from Coast Highway, areas of the backcountry were still burning, Holaday said.
Earlier Thursday, crews focused on protecting Emerald Bay and Irvine Cove, home to some of the most expensive real estate in the county. Billionaire Warren Buffett owned homes in Emerald Bay. Officials say homes were not damaged.
City Councilman George Weiss was standing in an empty lot in north Laguna Beach just before 6 a.m. consulting with firefighters about their plan of attack. He could hear evacuation messages being broadcast over loudspeakers to residents, urging them to leave quickly.
At the time, he feared the worst.
“It’s breezy right now, but if the wind shifts it looks like we’re in trouble,” he said.
Strong winds pushed flames toward the multimillion-dollar homes before sunrise, but by midmorning had died down enough for firefighters to boost containment and stop the blaze’s momentum.
Mayor Sue Kempf said many longtime residents still have vivid memories of a massive wildfire that tore through the city in 1993, damaging more than 400 homes. The Laguna fire, which started in the canyon and spread to Emerald Bay before burning to the ocean, was one of the most devastating blazes in Orange County history.
It also prompted city officials to impose restrictions on home renovations and new construction, banning shake shingle roofs and requiring automatic sprinkler systems.
“People have been here a long time, and they’re very sensitive. They’re very worried,” Kempf said. “I think we have a good team working on this. I’m confident we’ll get through this.”
Fire officials applauded residents for cutting back vegetation to create “defensible space” around their homes, allowing crews to better protect their properties.
A robust network of mutual aid from surrounding cities and counties, including Los Angeles, also helped fire crews attack the blaze. The Emerald fire was the only major one burning in California on Thursday morning, so resources from other agencies were available to help quickly, Fennessy said.
During peak fire season, resources are more scarce as crews are spread across the state. Four Cal Fire air tankers, five helicopters and more than 75 engines were battling the fire by midmorning, he said.
Emerald Bay Service District General Manager Mike Dunbar hadn’t heard about the fire when he left his home in Tustin shortly after 7 a.m. to drive to his office in Emerald Bay. He thought it was strange that Coast Highway was closed. Then he saw the smoke.
The streets in the neighborhood, which are typically busy with activity even during the week, had fallen silent.
“It’s like a deserted city,” he said.
Officials have not determined what caused the fire. Evacuation orders were lifted Thursday afternoon, and residents were able to return to their homes.
About three miles north of the fire at Crystal Cove Beach Cottages, Eulynn Gargano woke up early to watch the sunrise at the beach when she noticed the sky looked a bit odd.
“Oh, look, the clouds are rolling in,” she told her partner, John Cullen, who was vacationing with her.
She thought it was the marine layer coming in, but it looked too dense. Cullen, who lives in New York, stepped outside wanting to capture the sunrise with his camera. Then they saw smoke and got news about a fire nearby.
Gargano, who splits her time between New York and Huntington Beach, said she wasn’t too worried. Cullen snapped photos of the smoky pink sky with his camera perched on top of a tripod, facing south.
Helicopters hovered above the crashing waves. The rough winds whipped palm trees just steps away, but the couple said they wouldn’t evacuate unless it became mandatory. They lucked out, with Crystal Cove being just outside the evacuation zone, they said.
Most of the smoke had cleared at Crystal Cove State Beach by 8:30 a.m. A toddler danced near the shore. A woman sipped her coffee while gazing at the crashing waves. An elderly man jogged nearby.
Cole Daroff and his 3-year-old daughter, Eloise, carved shapes in the sand with sticks. Daroff’s wife, Margaret Burris, set down a pair of cinnamon rolls on their beach blanket.
The only hint that anything was amiss was the helicopters in the sky. But that didn’t seem to bother them.
“We live in L.A.,” Burris said. “There are helicopters over our house all the time.”
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