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Strong winds pushed flames through the canyons of southern California early Thursday as an uncontrollable wildfire burned near homes and forced residents to flee.
The fire in Silverado Canyon, Orange County, started as a house fire Wednesday night and quickly spread to dry tinder brush as wind gusts reached 113 km / h (70 mph). Bond’s fire exploded throughout the night and when the sun rose a huge plume of smoke was visible for miles.
Firefighters struggled over steep terrain amid unpredictable Santa Ana winds that increased the risk of fires across much of the region.
Captain Thanh Nguyen, of the Orange County Fire Department, said crews were scrambling to stay ahead of the blazes that blew up on main roads.
“We’ve also seen the wind change drastically, so that’s what we tell all of our staff to be aware of – this ever-changing wind,” he told CBS LA TV.
Evacuations have been ordered for several canyon neighborhoods near the town of Lake Forest and residents of other nearby areas have been told they are ready to exit. It was not immediately clear how many people had been affected or whether houses had been damaged.
The Bond fire is burning near the same area as the Silverado fire in October, which forced tens of thousands of people to evacuate.
The new blaze broke out as Southern California utilities cut power to tens of thousands of customers to avoid the threat of wildfires during famed Santa Anas.
Red flag warnings of extreme fire danger until Saturday were in place due to low humidity, dry brush and winds, which sweep inland, the National Weather Service said.
Utilities in the populated area began on Wednesday shutting off electricity to customers as a precaution to prevent the gusts from blowing tree branches into electrical equipment or knocking down power lines, which sparked fires of devastating forest in recent years.
Southern California Edison cut power to about 15,000 homes and businesses by Wednesday night and planned to shut down lines serving about 271,000 customers in seven counties throughout the windy period, which could last. until Saturday. It was one of the biggest precautionary failures in the public service.
San Diego Gas & Electric disconnected about 24,000 customers Wednesday night with 73,000 more in the sights. “We recognize that the loss of power is disruptive, and we sincerely thank our customers for their patience and understanding,” the utility said.
An approximately 15-acre (6-hectare) fire in San Diego County threatened about 200 homes and authorities were working to evacuate them, said Capt Thomas Shoots with Cal Fire, the firefighting agency of the State of California.
The nearby apartments were under evacuation notice. The fire reported on Wednesday evening had damaged some homes, KGTV reported.
California has already had its worst year of wildfires. More than 16,835 km2 were burned, a total greater than the combined area of Connecticut and Rhode Island. At least 31 people were killed and 10,500 houses and other structures damaged or destroyed.
The latest fire threat comes as much of California plunges deeper into drought. Almost all of northern California experiences severe or extreme drought while most of southern California is unusually dry or worse.
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