A fast-moving wildfire in Orange County burned homes and forced evacuations Friday as powerful Santa Ana winds fueled a growing outbreak of blazes across Southern California.

The Norte Fire emerged Friday morning, prompting evacuation orders in San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano and burning 465 acres (188 hectares) as of 6:30 p.m. local time. California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state had secured federal assistance for the Norte Fire.

The “wind-driven” event damaged or destroyed at least six homes, Orange County Fire Authority Chief TJ McGovern said at a news conference, and 400 fire personnel are working to contain the blaze with another 400 en route to the fire. Two firefighters were injured and taken to local hospitals, he said, and the fire was 0% contained.

“Crews will continue to work through the night on the fire line,” he said. “Our current objective is keeping the fire within its current footprint.”

Meanwhile, at least one firefighter was injured as crews worked to contain a Malibu wildfire Friday. The Bryson Fire in Los Angeles County had burned 147 acres as of 4:47 p.m. local time Friday and was more than 39% contained.

With more than 7,200 structures threatened, county officials said at a morning briefing that they were mounting a large response before a multi-day Santa Ana windstorm caused conditions to deteriorate further.

Gusts in the region could reach between 40 to 50 miles (80 kilometers) per hour on Friday night, according to the US National Weather Service, and dip down to 30 to 45 mph on Saturday.

The Bryson Fire sits within 10 miles of major burn scars left behind in recent years. The fast-moving Franklin Fire destroyed 20 structures around Malibu just before Christmas 2024. A few weeks later, in early January 2025, the devastating Eaton and Palisades fires killed 31 people and inflicted billions of dollars in damages in the region.

Although Santa Ana winds also fueled those blazes, weather service forecaster Rich Thompson said current fire conditions in Southern California are nowhere near as severe. Some areas have recently received rain that may limit fire spread.

Ahead of the 2025 fires, “we’d had no rain for months,” said Kevin McGowan, director of the Los Angeles County Office of Emergency Management. “It’s not the same level at all, though it’s still very concerning.”

As of Friday morning, more than 400 personnel had been deployed to fight the Malibu blaze. One had been transported to the hospital with minor injuries, according to Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone.

The largest blaze active in Southern California is the Henderson Fire in San Diego County, near Camp Pendleton. Almost 2,100 acres had burned, with the fire 20% contained, as of Friday evening. The fire briefly prompted the closure of north and southbound lanes on Interstate 5, according to the California Department of Transportation, thought by the evening lanes were open to traffic.

In a bid to avoid starting new fires, PG&E Corp. and Edison International’s Southern California utility — two of California’s biggest electricity providers — have shut down circuits serving tens of thousands of customers this week. Edison had turned off power to more than 131,000 customers as of 6:50 p.m. local time.

Edison said restoration work may begin as soon as Saturday.

(Sarah Gray, Julia Amann, Brian Eckhouse and Bill Haubert contributed to this report.)

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