Countywide : Fire Sweeps 5 Acres Northeast of El Toro
In rugged terrain, county firefighters struggled for nearly an hour Sunday to extinguish a stubborn five-acre brush fire in an unincorporated county area northeast of El Toro, authorities said.
The blaze, east of Santiago Canyon Road and north of Modjeska Canyon Road, was reported about 11:30 a.m. It broke out along a steep ridgeline, and a plume of thick, black smoke could be seen several miles away in El Toro and Mission Viejo, county fire dispatcher Michele Palmer said.
About 85 firefighters worked for an hour before encircling the blaze. Two California Department of Forestry planes also made several passes over the fire to drop chemicals and water, Palmer said.
Hand crews worked through the afternoon to dig a fire line around the area burned and put out smoldering spots, she said.
No structures were threatened by the blaze, which broke out in thick, heavy chaparral. The cause is being investigated, Palmer said.
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