Crime & Safety

Rancho San Clemente Brush Fire Tamped Down; Hot Winds Expected

Hand crews mopped up the last of a small brush fire on the ridge overlooking Calle del Cerro, making sure all embers were out because of the dangerous conditions expected.

As of shortly after 8 p.m. Wednesday, Orange County Fire Authority firefighters had quenched a small blaze on the ridge overlooking Calle del Cerro in Rancho San Clemente.

Fire Capt. Marc Stone said the cause of the blaze--less than an acre--was still under investigation as of Wednesday night.

No homes were threatened.

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Stone said the response time was unusually rapid because firefighters are on alert in response to dangerous weather conditions meterorologists expected to develop Wednesday night. .

Nonetheless, the fire, only accessible by narrow fire roads, was so difficult to find that the chief assigned two units to hunt for access to the blaze, Stone said. The only vehicle-access point is a narrow road off Cordillera, a cul-de-sac that leads off Calle Amanecer.

Find out what's happening in San Clementewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Stone said once the flames were tamped down, hand crews with picks, rakes, shovels and chainsaws cleared a perimeter of brush around the fire site to make sure no embers survived; winds picking up in the wee hours of Thursday morning could easily reignite smoldering ashes.

Hand crews finished clearing the area at about 10 p.m., according to a firefighter at the scene.


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