LOS ANGELES — An unseasonable heat wave and gusty Santa Ana winds fueled a brush fire that forced thousands of people to flee an affluent Orange County coastal community on Thursday, stoking fears that dangerous blazes could become more common in dry winter months.
The Emerald fire broke out around 4 a.m. in the wilderness area between Laguna Beach and the community of Emerald Bay near Coast Highway. Thick clouds of smoke blanketed the entire beachside town as residents from Irvine Cove and Emerald Bay, two exclusive gated communities with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean, packed up their cars and fled in the dark.
Minutes earlier, dozens of Orange County sheriff’s deputies had raced to the neighborhoods to wake sleeping residents and urge them to leave. Deputies made announcements via loudspeaker from their patrol cars and knocked on doors as the ridge line above the neighborhoods glistened.
Some looked out their windows to see the red glow of flames charging toward them. Santa Ana winds were gusting up to 40 mph when the first flames were spotted.
The fire underscores that dangerous blazes can erupt outside of California’s traditional fire season, which typically begins late summer or early fall. Coastal Orange County hasn’t had significant rain since late December 2021. Drier than normal brush paired with low humidity and temperatures in the high 80s over several days created conditions that drastically raised fire risk.
“We no longer have a fire season. We have a fire year,” Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy said. “This is supposed to be the middle of winter and we’re anticipating 80- to 90-degree weather. Even though the hillsides are green it doesn’t take but low humidity and wind to cause fires to occur.”
“If this is any sign of what’s to come throughout the rest of the winter and spring we’re in for a long year,” he added.
February is traditionally the wettest month in California, but has not brought any rain to the region so far, said Samantha Connolly, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego.
“We just don’t have that right now. We don’t even have a marine layer,” she said. “Everything is just really dry.”
The fire has charred 145 acres and is about 5% contained. Crews battled the fire both on the ground and in the air with water dropping helicopters and tankers. The focus was protecting Emerald Bay and Irvine Cove, which is home to some of the most expensive real estate in the county.
Strong winds pushed flames toward multimillion-dollar homes before sunrise, but by midmorning had died down enough for firefighters to boost containment and stop the blaze’s momentum.
Laguna Beach Mayor Sue Kempf said many longtime residents still have vivid memories of a massive wildfire that burned through the city in 1993, damaging more than 400 homes. The Laguna fire was one of the most devastating blazes in Orange County history.
“People have been here a long time and they’re very sensitive. They’re very worried,” she said. “I think we have a good team working on this. I’m confident we’ll get through this.
Fennessy applauded residents for cutting back vegetation to create “defensible space” around their homes, allowing fire crews to better protect their properties.
A robust network of mutual aid from surrounding cities and counties, including Los Angeles, also helped fire crews attack the blaze. The Emerald fire was the only major one burning in California, so resources from other agencies were available to help, Fennessy said.
During peak fire season, resources are more scarce as crews are spread across the state. Four Cal Fire air tankers, five helicopters and more than 75 engines were battling the fire by midmorning, he said.
Emerald Bay Service District General Manager Mike Dunbar hadn’t heard about the fire when he left his home in Tustin shortly after 7 a.m. to drive to his office in Emerald Bay. He thought it was strange that Coast Highway was closed. Then he saw the smoke.
The streets in the neighborhood, which are typically busy with activity even during the week, had fallen silent.
“It’s like a deserted city,” he said.
About three miles north of the fire at Crystal Cove Beach Cottages, Eulynn Gargano woke up early to watch the sunrise at the beach when she noticed the sky looked a bit odd.
“Oh, look, the clouds are rolling in,” she told her partner, John Cullen, who was vacationing with her.
She thought it was the marine layer coming in, but it looked a bit too dense. Cullen, who lives in New York, stepped outside wanting to capture the sunrise with his camera. Then they saw smoke and got news about a fire nearby.
Gargano, who splits her time between New York and Huntington Beach, said she wasn’t too worried. Cullen snapped photos of the smoky pink sky with his camera perched on top of a tripod, facing south.
Helicopters hovered above the crashing waves. The rough winds whipped palm trees just steps away, but the couple said they wouldn’t evacuate unless it became mandatory. They lucked out, with Crystal Cove being just outside the evacuation zone, they said.
Most of the smoke had cleared at Crystal Cove State Beach by 8:30 a.m. A toddler danced near the shore. A woman sipped on her coffee while gazing at the crashing waves. An elderly man jogged nearby.
Cole Daroff and his 3-year-old daughter, Eloise, carved shapes in the sand with sticks. Daroff’s wife, Margaret Burris, set down a pair of cinnamon rolls on their beach blanket.
The only hint that anything was amiss was the helicopters in the sky. But that didn’t seem to bother them.
“We live in L.A.,” Burris said. “There are helicopters over our house all the time.”
City Councilman George Weiss was standing in an empty lot in north Laguna Beach just before 6 a.m. consulting with firefighters about their plan of attack. He could hear evacuation messages being broadcast over loudspeakers to nearby residents, urging them to leave their homes.
At the time, he feared the worst.
“It’s breezy right now, but if the wind shifts it looks like we’re in trouble,” he said.
Officials have not determined what caused the fire. It is not clear when residents will be able to return to their homes. Fennessy warned that the region will still face high temperatures and wind in the coming days.
“We’re not out of the woods,” he said. “When it comes to fire don’t let your guard down.”
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