By Sonya Quick and Fermin Leal
Orange County Register
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. — A brush fire that roared to life within a few hundred yards of homes in Laguna Beach and sent at least one firefighter to the hospital was fully under control by Sunday afternoon, authorities said.
The 3- to 5-acre blaze ignited late Sunday morning in a steep canyon area of southern Laguna Beach, between multimillion-dollar hilltop estates and oceanfront bungalows.
Authorities called for voluntary evacuations in the area and stationed fire crews near about 20 hilltop homes that were in the fire’s direct path, said Orange County Fire Authority spokeswoman Lynette Round.
About 150 firefighters and a helicopter battled the blaze, establishing a “control ring” around the fire and also dropping water from a helicopter, Round said.
One firefighter was taken to a nearby hospital for breathing difficulties, Round said.
Coast Highway remained open in both directions throughout the fire, although the No. 1 lane of northbound Coast Highway was scheduled to remain closed until about 8 p.m. Sunday to provide a staging area for fire crews, Laguna Beach police said.
The cause of the fire remained under investigation Sunday afternoon. Investigators were examining damaged electrical power lines through the area, although it was not immediately clear if the power lines started the fire or were simply scorched by the flames, Round said.
The blaze, first reported at 11:36 a.m. Sunday, ignited in a steep canyon behind the Ruby’s Diner restaurant on Coast Highway and next-door Laguna Terrace Park, a mobile-home community that winds its way up into the canyon. The sprawling, oceanfront Montage resort is across the street on Coast Highway.
Laguna Beach resident Patty Barnett, who lives in a hilltop home on Nyes Place above the fire, said she could see the flames from her back yard.
“It was a really quick response,” Barnett said. “The helicopter pilots are amazing; they really have guts. They fly right through the smoke to see the fire line and then go back through and drop water.”
A wildfire looms Sunday near Ruby’s Diner on Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach.
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