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A wind-driven brush fire in Southern California destroyed million dollar homes and threatened thousands of people.
The fast-moving Norte Fire started Friday in San Clemente and was driven into neighboring San Juan Capistrano by warm winds that reached up to 60mph.
About 16,000 residents and 6,000 homes were told to evacuate as the blaze threatened to continue spreading overnight, ABC7 reported.
The Orange County Fire Authority said Saturday morning that the devastating fire had burned about 570 acres and six large coastal homes.
A captain with the Orange County Fire Authority, Steve Concialdi, said the fire being driven by wind made it 'very difficult to contain.'
'The helicopters can only do so much,' Concialdi said. 'The fixed–wing planes that drop retardant, they can only do so much.'
Hundreds of firefighters reported to the hills of southern Orange County, about one hour south of Los Angeles, to fight the blaze. Two firefighters were injured and hospitalized, with one suffering from heat exhaustion.
As of Saturday night, conditions had improved and all evacuation orders had been lifted except for one road.
Andy Auerbach, who lives on Calle Miramar in San Juan Capistrano, depicted the anxiety that the fire brought on the coastal enclaves.
'It's a lot [of] embers that are blowing into the yard starting little fires and so we're just trying to play whack–a–mole,' Auerbach told the outlet. 'Any little hotspot that emerges we're trying to put it out.'
The winds that caused the fire to spread are known as Santa Ana winds, which carry dry air toward the coast. It was in the high 90s.
Zachary Torgesson evacuated his home of 16 years and sought shelter at the San Juan Capistrano Community Center.
Torgesson told the outlet that he was 'just leaving it all to God' as the blaze threatened his residence.
Another resident of the area, 51-year-old Susan Kannakko, described how the fire came suddenly towards her house in San Clemente.
The fire began around 11.33am Friday in the area of Portico Del Norte in San Clemente. A cause is still being investigated.
'It was like out of a movie, when the spaceship comes in, and everything goes black,' Kannakko, who lives on Calle Delgado, told the LA Times.
