175-acre Laguna Beach brush fire is 85% contained, firefighters say

A brush fire that temporarily displaced thousands of Laguna Beach and Aliso Viejo residents over the weekend has burned 175 acres and was 85% contained as of Tuesday night, fire officials said.

All Laguna Beach residents who were evacuated Saturday because of the blaze were permitted to return to their homes Sunday evening. Initially, 1,500 residents were evacuated from the Top of the World and Old Top of the World neighborhoods.

The Aliso fire, which broke out at about 1:15 p.m. Saturday below Top of the World and behind Soka University in Aliso Viejo, also forced the evacuation of more than 2,000 homes in Aliso Viejo. However, that order was lifted at 9 p.m. Saturday after authorities determined the fire was no longer a threat to those homes.

Favorable weather conditions in the past several days have given firefighters an edge in getting the blaze under control, fire officials said.

Firefighters are digging up and extinguishing hot spots under the surface, but there are no active flames, Orange County Fire Authority Battalion Chief Mike Summers said Tuesday.

About 450 firefighters from several agencies were on the scene Tuesday. Summers said crews will remain at least through Friday and possibly until Sunday.

“The nature of the root systems means they smolder for days at a time,” he said. “We want to make sure the hot spots are truly out.”

At one point Saturday, the fire was reported to have burned 250 acres, but that was downgraded to 120 at around 8:40 p.m. after an aerial survey of the burn area gave firefighters a more accurate count, officials said. The figure was increased to 200 in a Fire Authority tweet at 12:05 a.m. Sunday, but it changed again to 150 later Sunday morning. By late Monday, the fire had burned 175 acres.

Summers said investigators trying to determine what sparked the blaze are reviewing video from law enforcement and the public showing the area just as the fire got underway. So far, the cause is unclear.

Four firefighters have suffered non-life-threatening injuries, authorities said. The OCFA said one of them was rescued by helicopter Sunday.

No structural damage has been reported, officials said.

Many Top of the World residents, many of whom remember the devastating wildfire that burned 16,000 acres and damaged hundreds of homes in Laguna Beach in 1993, quickly packed up and left their homes Saturday afternoon as word of the fire spread through the community. The Laguna Beach Community & Susi Q Center was established as an evacuation shelter.

Some people climbed to hilltops Saturday to watch as flames whipped through thick brush that hadn’t burned in more than 100 years.

Paul Jones, a 50-year Laguna Beach resident who lives about a mile from Top of the World, said he was leaving his house Saturday afternoon when he looked up and saw “an unbelievable amount of black smoke.”

Jones, who was one of many Laguna residents who lost their homes in the 1993 fire, trekked up the hill to get a closer look.

“The flames were tremendously high, probably 30 or 40 feet,” he said. “The fire was raging.”

Jones said Saturday’s scene was not nearly as chaotic as the one residents faced 25 years ago. He recalled that in 1993, rows of cars filled with residents who were told to evacuate at the same time sat in traffic trying to flee as flames chewed through brush toward neighborhoods.

“I think if they did have a real crisis, the city didn’t want to have a big traffic jam this time around,” he said of the speed in which people were told to evacuate.

As firefighting conditions improved during the weekend, Laguna residents on the west side of Alta Laguna Boulevard were permitted to return to their homes Sunday morning. The rest of the evacuation order was lifted at 6 p.m., officials said.

Fire Authority Capt. Tony Bommarito said fire crews got a break Saturday night as erratic winds that had helped spread the flames died down. Bommarito said firefighters used that to their advantage overnight as hand crews cut about a mile of fire line in an effort to contain the blaze.

“Whenever we don’t have any wind, it’s going to be in our favor,” he said Sunday. “We try to get as much done as we can during those times.”

Hundreds of firefighters from cities across Southern California, including Laguna Beach, Huntington Beach, Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, have assisted. Eleven air tankers and eight helicopters were at the scene over the weekend at the height of the fire, officials said.

The blaze caused Top of the World Elementary School to be closed Monday, and Costa Mesa High School’s prom scheduled for Saturday night at Soka University was postponed.

The elementary school reopened Tuesday, and Costa Mesa High’s prom has been rescheduled for Saturday at Soka.

Investigators ask that anyone with information about the cause of the fire call (800) 222-TIPS (8477).

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Twitter: @HannahFryTCN

UPDATES:

9:10 p.m.: This article was updated with the fire’s containment at 85%.

This article was originally published at 3:20 p.m.