Silverado Fire began in backyard; 3 firefighters injured

SILVERADO, Calif. (KABC) -- The Silverado Fire in Orange County's Cleveland National Forest began in someone's backyard, U.S. Forest Service officials said Saturday.

Details of what led the flames to spread were still unclear. By 8 a.m., the fire was at 10 percent containment over 1,500 acres, downgraded from 1,600 acres, forest officials said.

Cleveland National Forest fire bosses assigned a chopper to make nighttime drops in the darkness overnight, a new tool for the National Forest Service.

Meanwhile, about 100 customers continued to be out of power because of the fire. Southern California Edison initially reported a blackout for 406 customers on Friday night.

The fire was reported around 10:30 a.m. Friday in the 30500 block of Silverado Canyon Road. Overnight, the flames, fueled by chaparral and scattered oak, died down substantially, but hot temperatures Saturday made for tough conditions, officials said.

"Because of the drought and high temperatures, it makes (fuel components) very receptive to ignition. We get any embers and we got a 95 percent chance of the thing igniting," said Chon Bribiescasa, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service.

A heat advisory was issued for all of Orange County until Tuesday and a smoke advisory was issued for unhealthy air quality in Saddleback Valley and Capistrano Valley areas.

More than 800 firefighters were battling the flames, aided by six water-dropping helicopters and five fixed-wing aircraft. So far, three firefighters have been treated for minor heat-related injuries.

Firefighters say the blaze is burning in an area which has never burned before.

"We're burning in fields that do not have a recorded burning history," said Jim Wilkins, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. "There has not been a fire here since we started keeping records around the turn of the century, so the fields are extraordinarily hot, they're volatile, they're putting up 100-foot flame lengths in places."

Mandatory evacuations for residents in the 30500 block of Silverado Canyon Road east to the end of the canyon were still in effect from Friday. No structures or homes have been damaged, and authorities said it was just a precaution.

Several cooling center were opened for people needing to escape the heat, said Deanne Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Emergency Operations Center.

A Red Cross evacuation center was opened at El Modena High School, 3920 E. Spring St. in Orange, for Silverado Canyon residents.

CNS contributed to this report.