Evacuation orders were “significantly reduced” Friday due to increasing containment of the destructive Coastal Fire in Laguna Niguel.
Firefighters have increased containment of the 200-acre blaze to 40% as of Friday evening and 80% as of Sunday evening, according to updates from the Orange County Fire Authority.
The size of the wildfire that broke out Wednesday afternoon in Aliso Woods Canyon did not increase overnight.
The wind-driven blaze prompted evacuation orders as it advanced on an upscale gated community with multimillion-dollar homes.
At least 20 homes were destroyed and 11 were damaged as the blaze tore through neighborhoods, according to OCFA.
The fire got “out of hand” mainly because of the gusty winds, Newport Beach Fire Department Battalion Chief Nick Lucus told KTLA.
Evacuation orders were lifted for all but 131 out of the 900 homes originally in the mandatory evacuation zone, the city of Laguna Niguel announced Friday afternoon.
“The worst case scenario would be allowing people back into their homes then having them to re-evacuate,” Orange County Sheriff’s Department Captain Virgil Asuncion said.
Officials remain concerned that blowing embers could ignite homes located in and around the burn areas.
“Those embers … especially in the homes, they can be latent and hidden … they can take several days or several hours for those to appear,” OCFA Division Chief Shane Sherwood said.
More than 550 firefighting personnel remain assigned to the incident to help mitigate the remaining hazards, according to the OCFA.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation. Southern California Edison on Thursday told state regulators that electrical “circuit activity” occurred around the time the destructive fire started.
