The wind-driven Norte fire in San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano that damaged or destroyed seven homes was 80% contained by Monday, Oct. 19, and remained at 570 acres.
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“Crews will continue working to extinguish hot spots and strengthen containment lines,” the Orange County Fire Authority said.
Containment, the percentage of the blaze’s perimeter not expected to swell, was at 60% the night before. The acreage that the Norte has blackened has not grown since Friday.
Firefighters this week will conduct fire-suppression repair on the burn scar, said Capt. Sean Doran of the Fire Authority.
“A simple way to describe suppression repair is to say we are repairing (bull)dozer lines and hand lines by restoring drainage and covering disturbed soil,” he said.
Firefighters work on a hillside near Via Cerro Rebal on Monday, October 19, 2026, following the Norte fire in San Juan Capistrano. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Firefighters mop up near houses on Via Cerro Rebal on Monday, October 19, 2026, following the Norte fire in San Juan Capistrano. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Firefighters mop up near houses on Via la Mirada on Monday, October 19, 2026, following the Norte fire in San Juan Capistrano. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Firefighters mop up near houses on Via Cerro Rebal on Monday, October 19, 2026, following the Norte fire in San Juan Capistrano. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Fire retardant is evident near houses on Via Cerro Rebal on Monday, October 19, 2026, following the Norte fire in San Juan Capistrano. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Alissa Malara, who lives near these burned-out houses, takes photos along Via la Mirada on Monday, October 19, 2026, following the Norte fire in San Juan Capistrano. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
There is a good chance it will rain, beginning Wednesday, for a couple of days.
“(The) OCFA is working closely with our city partners to prepare for future rain events,” the captain said. “Each city leads the pre-planning and coordination efforts, while OCFA is responsible for emergency response to mud- and debris-flow incidents.
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“We remain in regular communication with our city partners, offering support and assistance as they prepare.”
The fire was reported shortly after 11:30 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 16, in the area of Portico Del Norte in San Clemente, with Santa Ana winds pushing it along quickly at first, prompting evacuations.
Two firefighters were injured and taken to a hospital on Friday, Doran said. He didn’t know the extent of their injuries.
The cause of the fire is under investigation. San Diego Gas & Electric had an outage near the blaze’s origin minutes earlier, according to the company.
“We did experience an outage in San Clemente and the cause of the outage is currently unknown,” the utility said in a Monday morning statement. “Power currently remains out to one customer at the request of fire agencies responding to nearby wildfire activity.”
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The seven homes damaged or destroyed were in San Juan Capistrano.