A fast-moving brush fire exploded to roughly 570 acres in south Orange County on Friday, destroying or damaging at least six homes and forcing evacuation orders covering an estimated 16,000 residents across San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano, according to the Orange County Fire Authority.

The blaze, dubbed the Norte Fire, broke out Friday afternoon in San Clemente and was quickly driven into neighboring San Juan Capistrano by the season's first significant Santa Ana wind event, which brought low humidity and gusts strong enough to push flames through canyon brush before crews could box it in. By Friday evening it remained at zero percent containment, though local reporting indicated crews had knocked down the bulk of the active fire line by around 5:45 p.m.

Evacuation orders covered San Juan Capistrano's Zones 4, 5 and 10 and San Clemente's Zones 12 and 13 — a combined footprint estimates put at between 4,600 and 6,000 homes. Shelters opened in both cities, including the San Juan Capistrano Community Center, and the Capistrano Unified School District dismissed students early as smoke and ash spread over campuses.

Firefighters hurt, utility shutoffs widened the risk

Two firefighters suffered what officials described as significant injuries battling the blaze; both were listed in stable condition at area hospitals. Roughly 134,000 customers across the region lost power during a utility-ordered public safety shutoff meant to keep live wires from sparking new ignitions as winds picked up ahead of the fire.

CONDITIONS THAT RAISE FIRE RISK WERE EXPECTED TO PERSIST THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT

Cal Fire and the Orange County Fire Authority are investigating the cause. A separate, smaller fire burning in the hills above Malibu grew to about 147 acres and was nearly 40% contained by Friday afternoon, part of the same wind-driven fire weather pattern moving across Southern California, per CNN's weather coverage.

San Clemente has a long history with wind-whipped brush fires — a 1976 blaze that ignited on nearby Camp Pendleton tore through the city, and the 2017 Cristianitos Fire burned roughly 700 acres in the same general area. Friday's fire burned faster and closer to dense residential blocks than either of those predecessors, fire officials said, a pattern climate scientists have linked to drier vegetation and more volatile wind events later into the autumn.

Residents who evacuated described a chaotic scramble as smoke columns turned the afternoon sky orange and officials pushed emergency alerts urging immediate departure from threatened blocks. Fire officials stressed that burn-scarred ground is more prone to mudslides if rain eventually arrives, adding a second phase of risk once the immediate fire danger passes.

With elevated heat and low humidity expected to last through Saturday night, fire crews were bracing for the possibility of renewed flare-ups before conditions ease. Cal Fire has not yet given a timeline for full containment or for when evacuated residents might be allowed to return home.