Norte fire ravages homes, explodes to 570 acres in San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano

A wildfire driven by strong Santa Ana winds damaged or destroyed at least six homes on Friday and prompted thousands of evacuations in a widespread area spanning parts of San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano.

Read more Map: This is where the Norte fire is burning in Orange County

As of Friday evening, the Norte fire had scorched 570 acres, according to Watch Duty, a nonprofit app that tracks wildfires. Some 6,000 homes and 16,000 residents remained under evacuation orders, Orange County Fire Authority officials said. There was zero containment of the fire as of 7:30 p.m.

In San Juan Capistrano, large, hillside homes burned as flames reached the backyards of several other residences. Video from the scene showed fire shooting through roofs.

The damage included four homes off Via La Mirada, Orange County Fire Authority officials said.

Some 400 firefighters were on the lines on Friday evening, and 400 more were on the way, OCFA Fire Chief TJ McGovern said at an evening news conference. Two firefighters were hospitalized, one with significant injuries, he said.

Crews would work through the night, officials said. They added that availability of water was not an issue, but residents are urged to preserve it as a precaution.

Firefighters had responded around 11:30 a.m. to the 3000 block of Eminencia del Norte, according to Watch Duty.

The Norte fire initially grew to about 10 acres before expanding to an estimated 50 to 70 acres by 12:20 p.m., driven by wind and terrain. Shortly after 2:30 p.m., the OCFA reported the fire reached 465 acres. Watch Duty bumped that up to 570 acres shortly after 7:30 p.m.

Winds blowing in an easterly-northeasterly direction in San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano on Friday afternoon ranged from 10 to 15 mph, with gusts reaching 35 mph.

Firefighting aircraft were initially ordered not to divert to other fires because of the immediate threat to structures, according to Watch Duty.

The evacuation orders were issued in both cities. Evacuations were also requested for streets off Camino Las Ramblas extending toward the 5 Freeway and the San Juan Capistrano landfill, according to Watch Duty, citing emergency radio traffic.

Evacuation centers were established at San Juan Capistrano Community Center, 25925 Camino del Avion, San Juan Capistrano; and San Clemente Community Center, 100 Calle Seville, San Clemente.

See the interactive evacuation map here

The fire reached homes in the areas of Avenida Calita, Via La Mirada and Via De Agua in San Juan Capistrano, while firefighters also responded to reports of threatened structures near Avenida California and Paseo Aliso, Watch Duty said.

‘It just screamed right through here’

Mark and Jennifer McNabb, whose home of 10 years was destroyed on Via La Mirada in San Juan Capistrano, said they took every precaution to protect their property. “We just installed a fireproof roof and boxed in the eaves,” Mark McNabb said.

Camille Rainis lives in Meredith Canyon in San Juan Capistrano, right against a nature preserve popular for mountain biking and hiking.

“When we were packing up, I could see flames at the top of the hill,” she said. “I turned around to grab something and 10 seconds later the flames were halfway down the hill, 20 seconds later they were behind our wall in the backyard.

“I got my kids in my car — and my cats.”

“Our next-door neighbors on either side (may have) lost their homes,” Rainis said. “I don’t know about ours.”

Jerry Robinson, who lives in an area of San Juan Capistrano known as Ocean Pointe, said he was having lunch out when he got calls about smoke being visible from his neighborhood.

He said he drove home and at first saw only the smoke, but then could see flames billowing from the open space.

“It kept moving around, and then planes and helicopters came and dropped stuff on it,” he said. “The flames would go away, and then you’d see it flare back up.”

Robinson said he initially didn’t think he’d need to evacuate. When a “very insistent” police officer came to his door, he said he decided to go rather than “fill out all kinds of papers.”

Rolf Engstrom, whose house is on Via de Agua, pointed to a black burn scar on a hill.

Read more Norte fire: Parents asked to pick up students from San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano schools

“When we first heard there was a fire, I came up this hill to see what was going on,” he said. “I got here, and the fire was just 100 yards away. All of a sudden, it just screamed right through here. I was sure it was going to go up.

“Then they (firefighters) set up their truck and hoses and knocked it down.”

Mitch Bohi, 38, who lives nearby, walked along the street Friday evening, observing the damage to the burned homes.

“It’s like a relapse of the Palisades Fire,” he said. “Those hills, all the greenery and wildlife — gone.”

Bohi, whose house was not damaged by the blaze, said his neighbor, who lived there for 45 years, has never seen the hills by her home burn.

At the top of the hill, firefighters worked hoses, dousing still-smoldering pieces of homes. Three homes were just sticks and frames, though one still had a few recognizable walls. Neighbors from other parts of the community rode up on e-bikes or walked up the hill and watched.

“It’s so sad,” one man said. “One of those houses was just remodeled.”

Fighting the fire

John Mollica, an engineer on Newport Beach Fire Department’s Engine 368, works on a pre-positioned strike force that consists of five engines and a battalion chief, which was deployed Thursday as winds began ramping up.

Mollica said the team was out patrolling the county Friday and were in the Ortega area when the Norte Fire started. They were deployed to San Clemente and were some of the first firefighters on site, he said.

“Throughout the day, there were helicopters, drops, water drops, and they also had (fire retardant) getting dropped most of the day,” Mollica said.

“There are teams in every neighborhood around this fire, and there’s a lot of structural protection going on,” he said. “Newport Beach has five engines on this fire, so we’ve tried to do mutual aid for this incident, as well as many other cities in the area.”

Terrain and wind have been major factors for crews trying to contain the fire throughout the day, Mollica said. That’s why it’s been important to have crews working on the ground in concert with air attacks by planes and helicopters, so that hot spots are able to be addressed instantly, he said.

“We’ve got a good water supply here. The guys that have been trickling back are telling me that there’s three peaks (in the hills) with really steep valleys. It’s tough fighting the slope and the inclination, as well as battling winds,” he said.

McGovern said assistance is coming from the fire departments around Southern Calfiornia, including the Los Angeles City Fire Department, Long Beach Fire Department, Los Angeles County Fire Department, San Bernardino County Fire Department and the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department, in addition to resources from agencies throughout Orange County.

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced that the state has secured a Fire Management Assistance Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to make additional resources available.

Evacuating the mission

The Capistrano Unified School District asked parents of students at 14 San Clemente schools to pick up or sign off on early releases for their children as fires raged nearby in Camp Pendleton and San Juan Capistrano.

Before the fire, fourth graders visited Mission San Juan Capistrano on Friday as part of their California history curriculum. The mission later closed because of the fire.

“We had an amazing day with a lot of local fourth graders coming on their field trips and they were very excited and having just the best day ever,” mission Executive Director Mechelle Lawrence Adams said. “But at the end of the field trip, we started to see some flames,”

Adams said by early Friday afternoon, employees and visitors spotted flames and smoke just yards away from the mission’s walls. Most of the mission’s 59 employees live in the evacuation zone or in nearby south county cities, Adams said.

“We’re all safe and evacuated, and it’s in lockdown,” Adams said of the mission.

A number of high school football games were canceled because of the fire, including the Alpha League  game between Mission Viejo and San Clemente.

Due to close proximity fires and families affected, our game tonight has been canceled More information and updates to come @Tarek_Fattal @SteveFryer @latsondheimer

— Triton Football (@Tritonfootball) October 16, 2026

Although no containment was officially listed as of late afternoon, fire activity was noticeably diminished by day’s end, with fire crews focused on homes that were still burning.

The cause of the fire had not been announced as of 7 p.m.

Staff writer Victoria Le, Andrea Klick and City News Service contributed to this report.

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