Wildfire — Santa Ana Mountains and Foothills, California

2024-09-09 to 2024-09-21 · Santa Ana Mountains and Foothills, California

Event narrative

The Airport fire began at 120 pm PDT Monday September 9, 2024 in Trabuco Canyon, at a remote controlled airport facility, following an excessive heat wave where temperatures reached 100 to 112F. The wildfire burned the next 2 weeks across the Santa Ana mountains and SR 74 which was closed. The wildfire reached into western Riverside County, just west of Lake Elsinore. Total acreage was 23,500. Estimated cost of 95 million. There were a total of 160 structures destroyed in Riverside and Orange Counties with 89 of those structures in Orange County. 22 persons, 2 were civilians and the rest firefighters, suffered injuries. A Fire Management Assistance Grant was issued and approved by FEMA through the California.

Wider weather episode

Following and during a record heat wave, 3 large wildfires erupted and became out of control burning rapidly. The Airport fire started in Trabuco Canyon in Orange County on the south portion of the Santa Ana mountains. The Bridge fire started in the San Gabriel mountains and spread into Wrightwood and Mt Baldy. The Line fire started in Highland and burned for weeks up the Santa Ana River drainage of the San Bernardino mountains. The wildfires were between 23,0000 and 55,000 acres and caused millions of dollars of damage and expenses to fight.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1218724. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.