At least 20 homes were destroyed by a fast-moving wildfire that has prompted emergency evacuations in southern California as crews continued to battle the flames on Thursday.
Video footage captured by local media outlets on Thursday morning showed firefighters still attempting to contain blazes in homes that are still standing. Other nearby residences had been scorched all the way through.
The fire, which began in Laguna Niguel, was relatively small, burning only about 81 hectares.
But the wind drove embers into palm trees, attics and dense, dry brush on slopes and steep canyons that hadn’t been burnt for decades, Brian Fennessy, chief of the Orange County Fire Authority, said at a Wednesday evening news conference.
The Coastal Fire began on Wednesday afternoon between the southern California cities of Laguna Niguel and Laguna Beach near a water treatment plant, US media outlets reported. The size of the fire was initially reported to be 12 hectares at approximately 5pm, but quickly grew in size.
No deaths or injuries had been reported as of Wednesday night, Mr Fennessy said. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
Climate change has turned even small, more manageable fires into extreme threats to wildlife and property, he said.
“What we saw today is not something we’re used to seeing this time of year or even during these types of conditions,” Mr Fennessy said.
The fire chief said the blaze is an example of how wildfires have become a yearly threat in California, where they used to occur mainly in late summer and autumn. The US state is in its third year of a severe drought, which has caused vegetation to become so dry that it allows the fires to rapidly spread.
“Unfortunately, this is what I believe we are going to be experiencing over the next several months and over the next several years,” Mr Fennessy said.
Agencies contributed to this report
