Multiple Southern California homes are ablaze in a fast-moving wildfire fueled by hot wind

An evacuation shelter has opened in each city.

The Norte fire started in the coastal city of San Clemente and wind drove it into San Juan Capistrano. It was one of several fires in the region hit by dry, warm gusts known as Santa Anas, which blow from the interior and toward the coast. The strongest winds were expected through Friday afternoon but conditions that increase the fire risk were expected to last through Saturday night.

Tens of thousands of people in the state are without power after their electricity was turned off. A separate fire shut down a section of Interstate 5 that is a major artery connecting Orange County to San Diego, adding hours to commutes throughout Southern California.

The coastal cities are surrounded by hillsides. San Juan Capistrano, a city of 35,000, is known for horse trails and the historic Mission San Juan Capistrano. San Clemente, which is home to 62,000 people, is known as a “Spanish village by the sea” and popular with beachgoers and surfers.

Thousands were being asked to evacuate, said Victor Cabral, a San Clemente council member.

“The fire is right up on the city,” he said. “It’s on the perimeter of our homes on the north end.”

Nine schools were also closed Friday in San Juan Capistrano, the Capistrano Unified School District said.

Howard Hart, a councilmember for San Juan Capistrano, said he and his wife doused their roof with water and moved propane tanks away from their home before they evacuated Friday with a to-go bag.

Laura Hart hasn’t had to evacuate due to fire in the more than five decades she’s lived in the community, she said.

“This doesn’t usually happen to us, we usually see it on the news,” she said. “We always pray to God it’s not us, but yeah, it was today.”

Santa Ana winds hit Southern California

The Bryson Fire that sparked Thursday in Malibu had died down significantly and firefighters on Friday were focused on mop-up and containment, officials said. The blaze prompted evacuation orders and warnings for a swath of the Santa Monica Mountains that covered more than 12,000 people.

Winds from 20 mph to 35 mph (32 kph to 56 kph) were expected Friday, with gusts forecast to reach 50 mph up to 70 mph (80 kph to 112 kph) in some areas, the National Weather Service said.

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who faced criticism for her city’s response to deadly fires in 2025, directed the fire department to deploy personnel and equipment ahead of the winds. The fire department also requested assistance from the state’s office of emergency services.

“It’s a pretty widespread event of elevated fire weather, so the whole SoCal region should really be on alert,” said Rose Schoenfeld, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

Firefighters battle several blazes in Southern California

Firefighters on Friday worked to contain two other fires that had sparked Thursday afternoon and triggered evacuation orders in the city of Azusa, north of LA, and Camp Pendleton, near San Diego.

More than 200,000 customers in California were without electricity as of Friday, according to poweroutage.com.

Some of California’s worst wildfires have been sparked by power equipment, and utilities in recent years have begun proactively shutting off power in dry winds.

Farther south, a fire at the Marine Corps base Camp Pendleton threatened buildings and doubled in size over one day to more than 3 square miles (8 kilometers). The blaze crossed containment lines Friday morning, closing a section of the I-5 freeway as the fire burned steadily toward it.

Power cuts are widespread in Northern California

In Northern California, some communities in the Sierra Nevada and its foothills began experiencing strong winds, high temperatures and low humidity Wednesday night.

The weather service issued a red flag warning for parts of central and Northern California through Friday morning, saying any fires would spread rapidly. Such warnings are issued when weather conditions create an increased risk of wildfires.

Customers from the Central Coast to the upper corners of the Sierra Nevada could be without power through Saturday afternoon, Pacific Gas and Electric Company said.

___

Rodriguez reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writer Jaimie Ding contributed from Los Angeles.

Amy Taxin And Olga R. Rodriguez, The Associated Press

by The Canadian Press

Multiple Southern California homes are ablaze in a fast-moving wildfire fueled by hot wind

What's Trending