The first of the two wildfires called the Silverado Fire, broke out early this morning in the Silverado Canyon area bear Santiago Canyon Road and Silverado Canyon Road in Orange County. This fire quickly exploded in size today, going from about 2,300 acres to 7,200 acres – or over 11 square miles (29 square kilometers) by 4:30 p.m. local time. The fire is zero percent contained.
Fueled by gusty winds, the flames rushed along brushy ridges in Silverado Canyon and near houses in the sprawling city of Irvine, home to about 280,000 residents, reports the Associated Press.
Road closures for #SilveradoFire:
•Portolla from 241 to Jamboree
•241 from the 133 to Santiago
•Santiago Canyon Rd from Cooks to the 241 pic.twitter.com/s7Gg1wjAvO— OCFA PIO (@OCFA_PIO) October 26, 2020
Two firefighters, one 26 and the other 31 years old, were badly burned fighting the Silverado Fire, according to Orange County fire officials, suffering second and third-degree burns over at least 50 percent of their bodies, and had to be intubated when they reached the hospital, according to USA Today.
“They are gravely injured. Their families are with them,” said OCFA Fire Chief Brian Fennessy. “We are giving them all the support we can.”
CNN News is reporting that Southern California Edison (SCE) says a power line may have played a role in the ignition of the Silverado Fire, according to a report filed with the California Public Utilities Commission. An initial safety incident report describes overhead electrical facilities in the area where authorities think the fire started, but notes there was no activity on the circuit.
#BlueRidgeFire (#YorbaLinda, Orange/Riverside Co) – All fixed wing aircraft have now departed the fire for the night, OCFA Copter 1 is continuing drops for a while. Night AA requested for tonight for supervision/observations along w/ night-time water dropping copters. pic.twitter.com/NdsJq7FiLM
— CA Fire Scanner (@CAFireScanner) October 27, 2020
“We reported the incident despite seeing no activity on the nearby 12-kV circuit nor any downed power lines because it appears that a lashing wire attached to a telecommunications line may have contacted SCE’s power line above it, possibly starting the fire,” SCE spokesman Chris Abel told CNN.
To add to the misery caused by the Silverado Fire, a second fire, called the Blue Ridge Fire broke out Monday afternoon in the Chino Hills, on Blue Ridge Dr and Big Horn Mountain Way above Yorba Linda neighborhoods, burning 1,100 acres. That fire has now grown to 3,000 acres as of 7:30 p.m. local time. This fire is zero percent contained.
