Norte fire at 50% containment; firefighters to guard against rekindling for several days

Sean Emery, The Orange County Register on Oct 18, 2026

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The Norte fire was 50% contained as of mid-morning on Sunday, fire officials announced.

A total of 467 firefighters remain assigned to the fire, working to strengthen containment lines and extinguish hot spots, the Orange County Fire Authority said.

Firefighters also plan to remain at the fire in San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano for several days to make sure the flames stay down and to prevent rekindling, they said, after the blaze destroyed or damaged seven homes.

“We’re going to be here for a number of days,” OCFA Capt. Steve Concialdi said. “We don’t want those embers to catch a palm tree or some vegetation in another area or next to homes.”

Containment is the area beyond which the fire is not expected to spread.

All evacuation orders for San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano were lifted Saturday evening as firefighters continued battling the fire, which remained at 570 acres as of Sunday morning.

Residents affected by the wildfire were allowed to return to their homes beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Via La Mirada in San Juan Capistrano – where four homes were damaged or destroyed – remained closed to vehicle traffic north of Esperanza to allow OCFA emergency vehicles to continue working. The burn scar remained closed until further notice because it was still considered an active fire hazard area.

The Norte Fire broke out shortly after 11:30 a.m. Friday in the area of Portico Del Norte, according to the OCFA. Driven by strong Santa Ana winds, it grew to 250 acres within an hour. By evening, it was at 570 acres.

Some 6,000 homes and 16,000 residents were initially reported under evacuation orders, said Orange County Sheriff’s Capt. Justin Chevalier, the chief of police services for San Clemente.

Crews battled the blaze on the ground and with water-dropping aircraft, with additional strike teams summoned as the fire grew rapidly.

OCFA officials initially said six homes were damaged or destroyed in the fire, but bumped up that number to seven on Saturday evening as the assessments continued.

In addition to dousing the fire, increasing containment and keeping an eye on stray embers, firefighters plan to stick around to repair areas disturbed by battling the blaze, to help reduce erosion, the OCFA said.

The cause of the fire remains unknown.

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