Wildfires spread in California due to 'devil's wind'... Evacuation order for 16,000 residents

CNN and other American media reported that a wildfire spread rapidly in Orange County, California, USA on the 16th (local time) due to strong winds, damaging several houses and issuing evacuation orders for residents.

According to the Orange County Fire Department, the 'Norte Wildfire', which started near residential areas in the San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano areas around noon on this day, spread to 570 acres (about 2.3㎢) by evening, and the extinguishment rate remained at 0%.

Fire crews are focused on keeping the flames from spreading beyond the current fire zone, Fire Chief TJ McGovern said.

Six houses were burned down or damaged in this forest fire, and two firefighters were seriously injured and are being treated at a nearby hospital.

Evacuation orders were issued for several areas in San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano. The target area includes approximately 4,600 households and 16,000 residents.

This forest fire is one of the forest fires that has occurred in southern California since the previous day due to the influence of the Santa Ana wind, a dry seasonal wind called the 'Devil's Wind'.

As of this day, more than 7,000 buildings in Malibu were included in the evacuation order or evacuation warning due to the 'Bryson Wildfire' that occurred the previous day.

In the afternoon of this day, the maximum wind speed in the San Juan Capistrano area reached about 40 km per hour, and strong winds continued into the evening.

"The winds are still blowing pretty strong," said Steve Consialdi, a spokesman for the Orange County Fire Department, warning that embers blown by Santa Ana winds could start new wildfires.

Santa Ana winds are forecast to blow strong until the 17th and then weaken later in the weekend.

Due to wildfires in Southern California, power companies temporarily cut off power to tens of thousands of homes due to concerns that power equipment could cause fires.