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Firefighters work to get upper hand on Bond fire in Silverado

Crews have worked round the clock to get the upper hand on the Bond fire burning in the Silverado area after early wind gusts quickly pushed it to 6,400 acres.

On Friday morning, the acreage held from the night before and firefighters had contained it by 10% as residual winds still swept through the region, fire authorities said.

Related: Map shows Bond fire evacuations, closures, location

“Our crews worked through the night both air and ground units to get us those containment lines,” said Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Paul Holaday.

“We’ve done a great job last night of stopping the forward progress of the fire and we’re working on mopping it up.”

The blaze injured two firefighters on Thursday, sent 25,000 residents fleeing and destroyed homes. Though fire authorities have yet to tally how many have been burned or damaged, canyons residents have counted four that were lost.

See also: Silverado residents say, “This one is the real McCoy”

All roads have reopened except the roads into and within the canyons which are still under mandatory evacuation orders. Evacuation orders have been lifted in Lake Forest, north of Alton Parkway, east of the 241, fire officials said.

The National Weather Service said wind gusts would continue Friday but should taper off by the afternoon.

“Some locally gusty winds could occur in the wind prone passes and canyons (Friday night) into Saturday morning, with gusts likely 35 (miles per hour) or less,” the forecast details.

The humidity will remain low today, forecasters said, at about 5 to 10% and stay that way through the weekend. This dryness will mean a Red Flag Warning will remain in place until Saturday night, the National Weather Service says.

Southern California Edison typically turns off power during weather that increases the chance of wildfires. On Friday morning, 842 customers in Orange County were without power. Those shutoffs were in the canyons, namely Silverado.

The Bond fire started at around 10:15 p.m. Wednesday at a house in the 29000 block of Silverado Canyon Road, Fire Authority spokeswoman Colleen Windsor said. However, a Canyon resident and the name of the fire suggests it began on a smaller street in the neighborhood called Bond Way.

Authorities have not said what started the house fire.


Source: Orange County Register

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