Posted on 10/26/2020 10:53:46 AM PDT by Responsibility2nd
As many as 60,000 people are being forced to flee their homes as a fast-moving brush fire raged through a large swath of Southern California early Monday, according to officials and news reports.
The Silverado Fire flared up around 6:45 a.m. local time near the city of Irvine and has burned through 2,000 acres, prompting officials to declare a mandatory evacuation around 9 a.m., the Orange County Fire Authority said on Twitter.
“The fire started in Silverado Canyon, and helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft are on the way,” Irvine Mayor Christina Shea said on the city website. “The wind is making it move very quickly.”
The flames shut down California’s 241 Highway, the city announced.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Yup, I’m one of the 60k.
Stay safe!
Have family living in the area. Orange County Register has map of the fires and evacuation area. KTLA has helicopter reporting. Now in foothills, but if it jumps the tollway ... Bad.
Looks to me to be arson. Four separate small fires set around 7AM.
Stay Safe! My brother and his wife live in Irvine(Newport/Irvine border) but in the city not in the hilly area..today is a very windy day in SoCal everyone stay safe!
It’s a bad one.
That’s bad. I used to live in Aliso Viejo before I escaped from California.
Prayers to all.
I lived in Silverado Canyon in 1971-72. It was rustic and a forgotten area then, and still relatively untouched since the 20’s and 30’s. Now? Not so much.
Silverado Canyon has this cool, hippie vibe, but it would be a complete nightmare in the case of wildfires. I’m told it’s impossible to get fire coverage there.
Stay safe..winds are brutal today!
My friends evacuated at 9 am as live live near Sand Canyon Avenue and Irvine Blvd. They are texting me there are major traffic jams and car accidents because people are panicking.
Watching ABC7 sky news helicopter, things look real Smokey but very few flames. Looking positive.
Stay safe down there.
North of Gay Frisco, we had winds from about 11 pm to 3:30 am from 20 to 45 mph.
Yard guys were out early sawing downed branches and trees.
With winds gusting up to 80 mph it could be difficult to contain in lower elevations where more people live and most will depart with their kids and pets, just as they are told.
Hopefully there will be some resistance to evacuation orders on the part of long-time residents who think for themselves.
Simply watering down your roof is the best way to keep your house from burning. Just be sure to wear your face mask.
You wonder why some homes remain standing after a big fire while great swaths of destruction are about all that’s shown in the news?
If it bleeds it leads.
I’m guessing from your post that you’re not familiar with Irvine. The roofs are all clay, and they are quite high—watering them down is an impossibility.
I see flames now but in the hilly area
Smoke is so thick, I’m sure causing visibility problems
Looks like winds are shifting too
“Silverado Canyon has this cool, hippie vibe, but it would be a complete nightmare in the case of wildfires.”
It was a cool place for a 21-year old. However, even then I was concerned about fire options. There was really only one way in and out then. I think there are two now, but it’s tight and it would be touch-and-go with a fast moving fire. And, these So. Cal fires have a high percentage of brush and grass for fuel. Such fires generally move much faster than a regular “forest” fire.
Looking at Google Maps, there are a whole lot of houses in the area north of I-5 with red roofs, just as you say.
No doubt mandated because of their proximity to the rangeland and thus far unpopulated areas to the north and east, and developers love those red tile roofs that complement pseudo-Spanish architecture.
Fireproof? Not likely, since many are two-story as you say, but with overhangs, balconies and excessive vegetation right up to the wood-framed windows. Also, it looks like the garage doors in the Orchard Hills development, just a short distance from the fire’s origin, are wood.
With nobody around to drown embers, there could be some serious fire damage. Fire departments aren’t equipped to foam entire subdivisions.
There was really only one way in and out
“Might be the fireman, I don’t know.”/g.a.
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