5-Acre Brush Fire Put Out in Costa Mesa
About 30 firefighters battled a blaze near the Santa Ana River bed in Costa Mesa on Sunday, dousing it after it burned through more than five acres of thick brush.
The fire started about 2 p.m. on a patch of county land south of Victoria Street at the Santa Ana River, said Costa Mesa Fire Department Battalion Chief Jim Ellis.
Because it spread into an area cluttered with vegetation 15 feet high, firefighters were forced to walk in and battle the blaze by hand, Ellis said. Helicopters from the Orange County Fire Authority and the Costa Mesa and Huntington Beach police departments made water drops, helping to control the fire by 3:15 p.m., Ellis said.
Five Costa Mesa fire engines, one from the Huntington Beach Fire Department and two from the county department helped battle the blaze. No buildings were threatened.
“Fortunately, the guys got to it before it got near any structures,” Ellis said.
Another brush fire burned about three acres of vegetation on Marguerite Parkway near the San Joaquin Hills toll road in Mission Viejo, authorities said.
That fire broke out at 1:16 p.m. and was contained by 2 p.m.
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