Brush fire contained in Newport Beach
Residents who were briefly evacuated are allowed to return home after a 50-acre blaze rages for two hours through hillsides in a neighborhood not far from the Fashion Island mall.
A small but dangerous brush fire that edged toward pricey Newport Beach homes this afternoon, damaging a few peripheral structures and spurring a brief evacuation, was contained just two hours after it began, authorities said.
The 50-acre fire, pushed by Santa Ana winds, chewed up hillsides in a neighborhood near Bonita Canyon Drive off the 73 toll road, threatening but not destroying any homes, said Jennifer Schulz, community education coordinator with the Newport Beach Fire Department.
The voluntary evacuation zone stretched south from Hilltop Drive to San Joaquin Hills Road, affecting streets east of San Miguel Drive, Schulz said. She could not estimate how many houses had been at risk.
Residents were eventually allowed to return home, Schulz said, but vehicles were temporarily barred from Port Carlisle Place, Port Aberdeen Place and Port Durness Place because of emergency vehicles.
The blaze, burning not far from the upscale Fashion Island mall, was first reported at 3:20 p.m. and was contained by 5:15 p.m.
The department dispatched scores of firefighters and four helicopters to dump water on the flames. Fire crews, Schulz said, would continue to "mop up" the area and put out spot fires overnight.
susannah.rosenblatt@latimes.com
