Two wildfires, the Silverado Fire near Irvine and the Blue Ridge Fire are raging in Southern California on Monday amid the strong winds prompting the Orange County authorities to give evacuation orders to 90,000 people.
READ ALSO: Thousands Evacuate as Red Flag Level Wildfires in Colorado Continue Wreaking Havoc
Silverado Fire
On Monday morning just before sunrise, the Silverado Fire broke out before sunrise on Monday in Orange County.
By Monday night, the Silverado fire near Irvine has burned more than 7,200 acres and it had zero containment so far.
Orange County Fire Authority reported mandatory evacuation of about 60,000 residents in the Orchard Hills neighborhood.
There is 500 personnel battling the Silverado Fire, and two crew members, aged 26 and 31, are critically injured with second and third-degree burns. The two crew members are now on a ventilator, Orange County officials reported.
On Monday, authorities report that the Silverado fire jumped the 241 Freeway from east to west prompting road closures between Santiago Canyon Road and the 133 Freeway. A number of schools were evacuated.
Flames from Silverado fires are getting closer to houses in the city of Irvine, with around 280,000 residents.
Southern California Edison believes that the Silverado Fire may have been sparked by a powerline. SCE Spokesman Chris Abel told CNN that the "we reported the incident despite seeing no activity on the nearby 12-kV circuit nor any downed power lines because it appears that a lashing wire attached to a telecommunications line may have contacted SCE's power line above it, possibly starting the fire,"
As fire rapidly spread in less than a day, residents of Southern California sought the safety of family or friend's homes, hotels, or evacuation centers for safety.
Blue Ridge Fire
Blue Ridge Fire is burning in Yorba Linda as the powerful Sta Ana Winds continue to blow Monday. Hundreds of homes have been threatened and one home was damaged by the fire. It has burned 1120 acres as of Monday night, with no containment yet. Two hundred firefighters were deployed to battle the fire.
No structure loss was reported by the authorities so far.
Strong Winds
Wind gusts in the Orange County area were up to 70 miles per hour. Crews are battling the fire on the ground and had sought help from several other agencies. All air support have been grounded because of the high winds.
A Red Flag Warning was raised in Southern California due to Santa Ana Winds, dry conditions, and low humidity.
The National Weather Service reported that the region is seeing the most dangerous wildfire conditions since October 2019 when fires from Saddle ridge, Tick, Getty, Easy, and Maria fires damaged dozens of homes, displacing thousands of people in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
Power Shutoff
Meanwhile, nearly 320,000 customers were without power on Monday night, according to PowerOutage.US. Most of these customers are under Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) for Northern California and Southern California Edison.
More than 25 million people are under red flag warnings in California and the Southwest. These include San Francisco, Sacramento, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas.
CalFire said that more than 4,000 firefighters are working to contain the 22 large California wildfires.
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