LOS ANGELES — The weather conditions were unremarkable for coastal Orange County, and even a bit pleasant: Mild temperatures, relatively moist air and a seasonal onshore breeze.
But when firefighters struggled to contain a 50-by-50-foot brush fire on a sere hillside in Laguna Niguel on Wednesday afternoon, officials grew concerned. Within a few hours, multiple homes were ablaze and spewing hot embers as the Coastal fire chewed methodically through an upscale development overlooking the Pacific Ocean. By the time the fire’s spread slowed, at least 20 homes had been destroyed, many of them overlooking the canyon where the fire began.
The sudden and severe destruction has left many to wonder just how such a fire could erupt amid mundane conditions. Yet experts say that preliminary reports suggest the devastation was due to an unlucky combination of factors. Moderate winds, steep terrain and drought-ravaged vegetation worked together to drive flames into a community where homes had been constructed before fire-hardening building codes took effect.
