{"id":7797,"date":"2026-10-16T04:50:25","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T11:50:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/news\/7955663\/hot-windy-weather-stoke-brush-fires-spark-in-southern-california-power-turned-off-for-many\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T22:45:02","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T05:45:02","slug":"coastal-homes-burn-as-hot-winds-fuel-california-fires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/7797\/coastal-homes-burn-as-hot-winds-fuel-california-fires\/","title":{"rendered":"Coastal homes burn as hot winds fuel California fires"},"content":{"rendered":"

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) \u2014 A fast-moving fire fueled by high winds burned at least six homes in Southern California on Friday, engulfing expensive coastal properties and prompting thousands to evacuate.<\/p>\n

Black smoke \u2014 visible from miles away \u2014 billowed over tennis courts and swimming pools while firefighters doused blazing homes in San Juan Capistrano in Orange County. Some homeowners sprayed water on their properties before heeding evacuation orders.<\/p>\n

Two firefighters were taken to the hospital with heat-related injuries, officials said. Authorities have not said how the blaze, which was less than a square mile as of Friday evening, started.<\/p>\n

\u201cHad these winds been a little bit stronger, a little bit different direction, this could have been a whole lot worse,” said San Clemente Mayor Rick Loeffler.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\n \"|\"
Firefighters work to douse a fire on house in flames during the Norte Fire on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Laura Hart hasn\u2019t had to evacuate due to fire in the more than five decades she\u2019s lived in the community, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis doesn\u2019t usually happen to us, we usually see it on the news,\u201d she said. \u201cWe always pray to God it\u2019s not us, but yeah, it was today.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Norte fire started in the coastal city of San Clemente, and wind drove it into San Juan Capistrano. An evacuation shelter has opened in each city. By Friday night, about 16,000 residents had been ordered to evacuate, said Fire Chief TJ McGovern, of the Orange County Fire Authority.<\/p>\n

It was one of several fires in the region hit by dry, warm gusts known as Santa Anas<\/a>, 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, with a heat advisory in effect until 8 p.m. Saturday on the Orange County and San Diego County coast, the National Weather Service said.<\/p>\n

Tens of thousands of people in the state are without power after their electricity was turned off. A separate fire by the Marine Corps base Camp Pendleton shut down for hours a section of Interstate 5 that is a major artery connecting Orange County to San Diego. That added hours to commutes throughout Southern California. <\/p>\n

\n \"|\"
Crews hose down properties burned by the Norte Fire on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (AP Photo\/Jae C. Hong)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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 \u201cSpanish village by the sea\u201d and popular with beachgoers and surfers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fire is right up on the city,\u201d said Victor Cabral, a San Clemente Council member. \u201cIt\u2019s on the perimeter of our homes on the north end.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nine schools were also closed Friday in San Juan Capistrano, the Capistrano Unified School District said. <\/p>\n

Nearby residents were also on edge as smoke darkened the sky.<\/p>\n

Wyoming resident Shannon Needham was visiting her mother at her assisted living facility in Dana Point just north of San Clemente when she learned about the fire.<\/p>\n

\n \"|\"
A firefighter stands on the roof of his engine as he prepares to leave the Norte Fire on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, in San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (AP Photo\/Denis Poroy)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The facility director told her that two buses would be on standby in case they needed to evacuate, Needham said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou could hear the fire trucks, you could hear the helicopters and everything above. And it was so smoky, it was just dark smoke,” Needham said.<\/p>\n

Some of California\u2019s worst wildfires<\/a> have been sparked by power equipment, and utilities in recent years have begun proactively shutting off power in dry winds. More than 118,000 customers in California were without electricity as of Friday, according to poweroutage.com.<\/p>\n

The weather service also issued a red flag warning for parts of central and Northern California through Friday morning, saying any fires would spread rapidly.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Rodriguez reported from San Francisco. Associated Press writer Jaimie Ding contributed from Los Angeles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) \u2014 A fast-moving fire fueled by high winds burned at least six homes in Southern California on Friday, engulfing expensive coastal properties and prompting thousands to evacuate. Black smoke \u2014 visible from miles away \u2014 billowed over tennis courts and swimming pools while firefighters doused blazing homes in San Juan Capistrano […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":7812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"guid":"59449a8c-6344-4c42-841c-cb5fb68db278","source":"The Associated Press","byline":"Amy Taxin And Olga R. Rodriguez","published":"2026-10-16 04:50:25","updated":"2026-10-16 22:37:40","_infotelid":"","_prepressid":"","_multisite_post_sync":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1303,1304],"tags":[],"region":[],"class_list":["post-7797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-world"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/7797\/coastal-homes-burn-as-hot-winds-fuel-california-fires\/","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Coastal homes burn as hot winds fuel California fires","url":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/7797\/coastal-homes-burn-as-hot-winds-fuel-california-fires\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/7797\/coastal-homes-burn-as-hot-winds-fuel-california-fires\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/inwheels-6a693166f580f1570a3802533ad5f85a268e8a5bf0066b366da5a3a32691fc3b.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/inwheels-6a693166f580f1570a3802533ad5f85a268e8a5bf0066b366da5a3a32691fc3b.jpg"},"articleSection":"International","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Associated Press"}],"creator":["The Associated Press"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"iNwheels","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2026-10-16T11:50:25Z","datePublished":"2026-10-16T11:50:25Z","dateModified":"2026-10-17T05:45:02Z"},"rendered":"