Brush fire threatens homes and prompts evacuation order in California's Laguna Beach

The rest of Laguna Beach received an evacuation warning. Officials said “homes are under threat with the possibility of more structures being threatened as the fire spreads,” according to information on the city’s website.

The Pacific Coast Highway reopened at noon after being closed in both directions for about five hours. All schools in North Laguna were closed.

The fire, dubbed the Emerald Fire, spans 145 acres and is 5% contained, Brian Fennessy, chief of the Orange County Fire Department, said at a new conference.

Fennessy, who had previously said the fire covered 7 to 10 hectares, attributed the change in acreage to better mapping of the fire.

“The fire is not spreading quickly at the moment,” he says.

Multiple fire departments attended the scene, including the California Highway Patrol and firefighters from Orange and Los Angeles counties. “This is the only fire in California right now, so we’re resource-rich,” Fennessy said.

“We no longer have a fire season, we have a fire year,” he said. “It’s February 10 and it would be the middle of winter. We expect 90 degree weather.”

Fennessy said the last time the area burned down was in 1993.

Fire chief Mike Garcia of Laguna Beach asked residents to be patient regarding evacuations. “There’s an active fire going on, you don’t see it, so it’s easy for everyone to think it’s okay, we need to get back to our house,” he said.

“We tell you, it isn’t. This is subject to wind and wind changes.”