Brush fire near Irvine Lake grows to 180 acres; 50% contained
A firefighter walks by an empty burning structure near Irvine Lake during a brush fire Monday.
Firefighters are battling a brush fire in unincorporated Orange County near Highway 241. The blaze led to the closure of a portion of Santiago Canyon Road as well as the Irvine Lake campground.
The fire resulted in the evacuation of 10 to 15 people from around the lake, according to the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.
Three abandoned Irvine Ranch homes have been destroyed, and around 2 p.m. air tankers had been used. The fire has spread across about 180 acres and is 50% contained, according to tweets from the Orange County Fire Authority. A spokesman for the sheriff’s department tweeted that the fire threatened structures around Irvine Lake and the Santiago Canyon Landfill.
Santiago Canyon was closed between Highway 241 and Modjeska Canyon Road.
Twitter: @boreskes
Benjamin Oreskes writes for the Los Angeles Times.