Blaze Closes Ortega Highway for 5 Hours
- Share via
CLEVELAND NATIONAL FOREST — A stretch of Ortega Highway was closed for about five hours Saturday after a small brush fire broke out near the Orange-Riverside county line.
The blaze started about 3:45 p.m. on the south side of the highway, between the upper and lower San Juan campgrounds in Orange County, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Betty Hawkes. It consumed about two acres before it was brought under control.
Two helicopters and two air tankers were dispatched because the fire “had the potential to spread,” Hawkes said late Saturday. “But they caught it. They’ve got it completely surrounded and it isn’t going any place.”
The fire did not threaten any structures, but closed Ortega Highway for about 15 miles in both directions between Grand Avenue in Riverside County and La Pata Avenue in Orange County, a California Highway Patrol dispatcher said.
Hawkes said engines and crews from the U.S. Forest Service and the California Department of Forestry would remain on the scene for most of the night to ensure the fire was extinguished.
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
