The wind-driven Norte fire in San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano that damaged or destroyed seven homes was 75% contained by Monday morning, Oct. 19, and remained at 570 acres.
“Crews will continue working to extinguish hot spots and strengthen containment lines,” the Orange County Fire Authority said.
Containment, the percentage of the blaze’s perimeter not expected to swell, was at 60% the night before. The acreage that the Norte has blackened has not grown since Friday.
Firefighters this week will conduct fire-suppression repair on the burn scar, said Capt. Sean Doran of the Orange County Fire Authority.
“A simple way to describe suppression repair is to say we are repairing (bull)dozer lines and hand lines by restoring drainage and covering disturbed soil,” he said.
There is a good chance it will rain, beginning Wednesday, for a couple of days.
“(The) OCFA is working closely with our city partners to prepare for future rain events,” the captain said. “Each city leads the pre-planning and coordination efforts, while OCFA is responsible for emergency response to mud- and debris-flow incidents.
“We remain in regular communication with our city partners, offering support and assistance as they prepare.”
The fire was reported shortly after 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 16, in the area of Portico Del Norte in San Clemente, with Santa Ana winds pushing it along quickly at first, prompting evacuations.
Two firefighters were injured and taken to a hospital on Friday, Doran said. He didn’t know the extent of their injuries.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. The San Diego Gas & Electric equipment had an outage nearby minutes earlier, according to the company.
The seven homes damaged or destroyed were in San Juan Capistrano.