Sunday 18 October 2026
The Norte Fire reaches 25 percent containment and most evacuation orders lift as thousands return home in Orange County
Crews raised containment of the Norte Fire to 25 percent by Saturday evening and most evacuation orders were lifted at 6 in the evening, allowing thousands of the roughly 16,000 evacuated residents of San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano to go home, the Orange County Fire Authority said. The fire held at 570 acres, with at least six homes damaged or destroyed and two firefighters treated for heat related injuries, as of October 18.
The wind eased, the line held, and the neighborhoods started filling back up. By Saturday evening the Norte Fire, which broke out on Friday near Portico Del Norte in San Clemente and ran into San Juan Capistrano on Santa Ana winds, was 25 percent contained, up from 5 percent on Saturday morning, as of October 17. It had not grown. The footprint stayed at 570 acres.
Most evacuation orders were lifted at 6 in the evening on Saturday. Orders had covered about 6,000 homes and 16,000 people at their height. San Clemente residents began returning on Saturday morning as the first zones cleared, and the Stallion Ridge community, San Juan Hills High School and the landfill off La Pata were among the areas repopulated in San Juan Capistrano before the remaining orders came down in the evening. One street in San Clemente remained under orders on Saturday night.
The damage count depends on which agency is speaking, and both counts are on the record. The Associated Press, Cal Fire and the county fire authority put the number of homes damaged or destroyed at six, and fire authority officials separately gave a figure of seven. The homes hit were largely in the area of Avenida Calita, Via La Mirada and Via De Agua in San Juan Capistrano. Two firefighters were taken to hospital with heat related injuries. No civilian injuries or deaths have been reported.
About 400 firefighters were assigned to the fire, with roughly 400 more brought in. The state secured a federal Fire Management Assistance Grant on October 17 to keep resources flowing. The cause of the fire is still under investigation, and no determination has been announced.
The Norte Fire was one of ten active fires in California during the wind event. As of October 17, the Bryson Fire near Malibu stood at about 150 acres and 52 percent contained, and the Henderson Fire at Camp Pendleton had burned more than 3,000 acres and was 35 percent contained, burning in a remote part of the base with no active threat to people or buildings. Crews on the Norte Fire expected days of mop up work on hot spots inside the line.
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