Blue Ridge Fire Burns 15,200-Acres, No Containment, Homes Damaged

YORBA LINDA, CA — Monday's brush fire in Yorba Linda doubled in size Tuesday, fanned by extreme Santa Ana winds. Roughly 15,200 acres are charred or actively burning, as of Tuesday evening at 8 p.m.

The Blue Ridge Fire ignited in Corona midday Monday and quickly spread to Yorba Linda and Chino Hills overnight, officials say. Originally named the Green Fire, the blaze began near the Green River Golf Course and Kodiak Mountain midday Monday, according to the Orange County Fire Authority.

As of Tuesday, the blaze damaged 10 Yorba Linda homes, the locations and extent of damage have not yet been released.

Evacuations in the area include 6,000 homes in Chino Hills, 276 homes in Brea. The fire displaced 2,500 Yorba Linda families during the firefight as of Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., according to an OCFA spokesperson. Another almost 6,000 homes were evacuated in Chino Hills, they say.

No Chino Hills homes have been damaged by this fire, officials say.

Latest Road Closures:

For the latest in evacuation orders, a map was provided by Orange County Sheriff's Department.

Evacuation orders were in effect for residents living in thousands of homes in the following areas:

-- The Hidden Hills community and Yorba Linda, north of the Riverside (91) Freeway, east of Gypsum Canyon;
-- All of Carbon Canyon from the county line to Summit Ranch in Chino in San Bernardino County;
-- Homes on both the west and east sides of Carbon Canyon Road, including Sleepy Hollow, Oak Tree Downs, Pine Valley Estates, Western Hills and Summit Ranch to the west of Chino; Valley Springs, Carriage Hills and Old Carbon Canyon Road to the east.

The evacuation process continued Tuesday with mandatory evacuations were issued just after midnight by Brea city officials for residents in all of Carbon Canyon, east of Brea Hills to the county line, including the Olinda Village and Hollydale neighborhoods, and voluntary evacuations were urged for the Olinda Ranch and Brea Hills areas.

More evacuation warnings were ordered overnight in the area of south Diamond Bar.

About 2 a.m. Tuesday, an evacuation warning was issued by Los Angeles County officials for an area south of Diamond Bar, bordered by Grand Avenue to the north, Diamond Bar Boulevard to the west, the Los Angeles/Orange county line to the south and the Los Angeles/San Bernardino county line to the east.

Read: Where To Take Evacuated Pets In Orange County

The high winds grounded aircraft used to battle fires for most of the day, but by late Monday afternoon, a DC-10 was up in the air making air drops in Yorba Linda, Orange County Fire Authority Chief Brian Fennessy said. That air support would continue, Tuesday, as long as possible.

"But we're also told we can expect (winds) to increase in the early morning hours until they die off sometime tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon," Fennessy said.

About 1,000 firefighters were battling the blaze. Multiple engine crews from the city and Riverside County Fire Department encountered flames moving rapidly west up a hillside, powered by 30 mph Santa Ana winds.

Chino Hills authorities said they were hopeful about the response since winds are predicted to average around 10 miles per hour with gusts of only 20 miles per hour.

That means water bombers could be used if conditions don't deteriorate, the spokesperson said.

There was no immediate word on the cause of the fire.

A Fire Management Assistance Grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency was secured Monday by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The grant will assist local and state agencies responding to the fire to apply for 75% reimbursement of their eligible firefighting costs.

The Blue Ridge Fire pushed towards Chino Hills overnight, though no additional structures were damaged, according to Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Thanh Nguyen.

Traffic on the 91 was expected to return to normal in those areas on Tuesday.

No injuries have been reported as of this blaze, though two hotshot firefighters were critically burned battling the nearby Silverado Fire, Monday.

The Silverado Fire has burned over 12,600 acres in the area of Irvine and Lake Forest, as of Tuesday evening at 7:30 p.m. with a mere 5 percent containment. Approximately 76,000 residents displaced as of this report.

Read: Silverado Fire Spurs Evacuations; 12.6K Acres, 5% Containment

There is no word as to the cause of the Blue Ridge fire, though SoCal Edison reports a possible cause of the Silverado Fire.

Patch will update road closures, evacuations and more.

Related Stories:

Where To Take Evacuated Pets In Orange County

SoCal Edison Reports Possible Cause Of Silverado Fire

Hotshot Firefighters Severely Burned Battling Silverado Fire

Silverado Fire: Firefighters Hospitalized, Over 7,200 Acres Burn

Thousands Evacuated In 6,600-Acre Blue Ridge Fire

This report will be updated. Please refresh for the latest information.

This article originally appeared on the Orange County Patch