3,000-Acre Fire Threatens Remote Homes

Scores of firefighters struggled Tuesday night to halt a 3,000-acre blaze that raced through the Cleveland National Forest east of San Juan Capistrano and threatened more than 100 structures.

None of the structures was damaged, but Ortega Highway (California 74), the primary link between south Orange County and Lake Elsinore in Riverside County, was shut down shortly after the fire erupted about 4 p.m. What sparked the fire is unknown, officials said.

Nearly 600 firefighters from a half dozen municipalities and state and federal agencies were working on the lines.

“It’s steep and rocky and there’s an abundance of fuel,” said California Department of Forestry spokesman Bill Bruggema, referring to the dense chaparral in the area. “There’s no expectation of containment. . . . No telling how big this might get.”

Before nightfall, firefighters were assisted by chemical and water drops from aircraft. But that failed to slow the blaze, forcing officials to evacuate residents in El Cariso Village, the Convail Nudist Camp, the Ortega Campground, Morrell Canyon, those living along Long Canyon Road and the Los Pinos Rural Job Corps Center, a job training center for minimum-security inmates.