- The Norte Fire broke out around 11:30 a.m. Friday in San Clemente and reached 465 acres by evening, burning at least six homes. It was 0% contained at 6:45 p.m.
- The Bryson Fire in Malibu held at about 147 acres and reached 39% containment with no structures lost.
- Southern California Edison had shut off power to 84,575 customers by Friday morning.
- Red flag warnings and gusty, hot weather are forecast to continue into the weekend.
The Norte Fire started a little before noon Friday near Portico Del Norte and Eminencia Del Norte in San Clemente, east of Interstate 5. By dark it had chewed through 465 acres, crossed into San Juan Capistrano and destroyed or damaged at least six homes.
Zero percent contained as of 6:45 p.m.
Orange County Fire Authority Chief T.J. McGovern laid out the numbers at an evening briefing. Two firefighters were hurt and taken to a local hospital. No residents were. Around 400 firefighters were on the line, 400 more were headed in, and crews planned to stay out overnight. The first call came in at 11:33 a.m., and the engines that responded were already on standby because of the weather.
Cal Fire's incident page noted that four homes off Via La Mirada in San Juan Capistrano had been hit. Five zones across the two cities were under evacuation orders, with warnings around them. Sheriff's deputies went door to door telling people to leave, a department spokesperson told CNN. Shelters opened at the San Juan Capistrano Community Center on Camino del Avion and the San Clemente Community Center on Calle Seville. Aerial footage from KTLA's Sky5 showed several structures burning. Fox LA also reported school closures in San Clemente. Acreage kept climbing through the afternoon, and one later report had the fire at 570 acres.
The Bryson Fire got going first, shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday, near Campus Vernon Kilpatrick on Encinal Canyon Road, west of Mulholland Highway. Early estimates put it at nearly 200 acres. Aerial mapping brought that down to about 147, and by Friday evening the Los Angeles County Fire Department had it 39% contained. Easing winds during the afternoon gave crews room to work, though authorities cautioned that gusts forecast through Saturday could still push flames around.
One firefighter was injured. No structures have been damaged or destroyed, Chief Anthony Marrone said at a Friday morning news conference, though he estimated more than a hundred in the area were threatened. The department had 414 personnel on it, including 11 hand crews, 64 engines and two helicopters. The blaze sits in steep, hard-to-reach terrain roughly eight miles from Pepperdine University, and crews held it to its original footprint overnight.
Evacuation orders covered the Encinal, Trancas and Zuma canyon areas. Watch Duty listed 12 other zones under a Level 2 warning, the stage where people are told to get ready. Warnings stretched from near Malibu Road and Pacific Coast Highway out to Leo Carrillo State Beach. Every Malibu school closed Friday. The juvenile probation camp at Kilpatrick was cleared, and ABC7 reported that 38 young people from it were moved out.
The city of Malibu's advice to residents was blunt: "If you feel unsafe, leave without waiting for an alert." The cause is under investigation.
A third fire, the Peak Fire in Azusa, burned 43 acres Thursday and briefly forced evacuations in a foothill neighborhood.
Edison started shutting off lines ahead of the wind. By Friday morning the utility's count stood at 84,575 customers, according to KTLA, with 36,018 in Ventura County and about 35,000 in Los Angeles County. Another 187,435 were being considered. The point of the program is to keep downed or damaged equipment from throwing sparks into dry brush.
Some families in Moorpark were into a second day without electricity and had no restoration time. Customers in Kern, Santa Barbara and Tulare counties lost service too, NBC Los Angeles reported. Fox LA singled out Malibu and Calabasas.
The totals depend on when you look. Fox LA had close to 70,000 customers out at mid-morning. NBC Los Angeles put Ventura County alone above 48,000. One outlet reported a figure past 100,000 for the day. Edison's outage center is the live version, and it lists both active and possible shutoffs.
Friday was meant to be the peak. The National Weather Service called for gusts of 40 to 55 mph across many valleys and coastal communities, with isolated gusts to 65, and some valley spots near 60. Mountain locations were forecast to see 80 mph or more, such as the Magic Mountain Truck Trail, and a few projections went to 90. Temperatures reached near 100 degrees in places, with very low humidity.
Wind advisories covered the Malibu Coast, the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys and parts of the Santa Monica Mountains through Friday evening. The red flag warning for the Santa Ana Mountains and foothills runs until noon Saturday.
A forecaster quoted by the Associated Press said the event should fall short of the January 2025 winds, when gusts ran between 60 and 100 mph and the Palisades Fire tore through parts of Los Angeles. He still expects hot, windy conditions through the weekend. KTLA's forecast mentioned a big cooldown after that. Authorities said resources would stay positioned in fire-prone areas through at least Saturday evening.
Evacuation maps for both fires are on the Cal Fire and Orange County Fire Authority incident pages.
