Erratic winds intensify firefighting hazards in O.C.

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The Santiago fire, which has been threatening Lake Forest, has been amped up by a microclimate of erratic, shifting winds caused by typical offshore Santa Ana winds colliding with onshore blasts from the coast, said Rich Witesman, incident commander for the Orange County Fire Authority.

The blaze has charred more than 15,000 acres. Containment, last reported at 30%, remains unchanged because the fire has grown so much and firefighting conditions are extremely hazardous.

“There’s a lot of hard work ahead of us,” Witesman said. “We’ve had a rough 12 hours.”

The firefighters’ objective today is to keep the flames north of Portolo and south of the the main divide, east of the 261/241 and west of Trabuco Creek. The temperature is up 10 degrees, to 90, with low humidity.

-- Mike Anton