Norte Fire burns at least six coastal homes in Orange County as about 16,000 evacuate
The Norte Fire started in San Clemente on Friday, Oct. 16, and Santa Ana winds pushed it into San Juan Capistrano, ABC News and OPB reported. At least six large coastal homes were damaged or destroyed and about 16,000 residents were ordered to leave. Crews held it under one square mile and reached 25% containment. Most evacuations were lifted Saturday evening. A separate fire near Camp Pendleton closed part of Interstate 5 for hours.
Santa Ana winds turn small fires into fast ones, which is why utilities cut power ahead of them. Coastal neighborhoods once seen as safer are now in the path.
If you live in Orange or San Diego counties, a heat advisory and fire-risk conditions were expected through Saturday night. Keep a go-bag and sign up for county alerts.
Fire officials point to quick containment and lifted evacuations as signs the response worked.
Reports also noted that power was cut to many California customers during the wind event, with outage figures that differ by outlet.
Confirmed: homes burned, evacuations, 25% containment. Outage numbers differ by report. Watch for the cause of the fire.
DailyDrop U.S. No. 14 · October 18, 2026