But when firefighters struggled to contain a 50-by-50-foot brush fire on a sere hillside in Laguna Niguel on Wednesday afternoon, officials grew concerned. Within a few hours, multiple homes were ablaze and spewing hot embers as the Coastal fire chewed methodically through an upscale development overlooking the Pacific Ocean. By the time the fire’s spread slowed, at least 20 homes had been destroyed, many of them overlooking the canyon where the fire began. Hot embers can be carried by this rising air and the wind, touching off smaller fires ahead of or behind the main blaze. “We’ve had so many destructive fires in recent years that Cal Fire has really been working overtime to track what’s going on across the state: which homes burn and which homes don’t,” she said.

Source: Los Angeles Times May 13, 2022 19:09 UTC