INFERNO

Wildfire Rips Through 20 Homes in Affluent Southern California Enclave

Lavish houses were swallowed up by flames, dozens more are threatened, and residents have been sent fleeing after a small brush fire exploded Wednesday.

At least 20 homes have been burned in a wealthy Southern California community and dozens more are under threat after a small brush fire that erupted Wednesday blew up to cover 200 acres early Thursday, fire officials said. The fire near the affluent enclave of Laguna Niguel tore through lavish homes and sent residents fleeing as firefighters scrambled to contain the flames. Orange County Sheriff’s Capt. Virgil Asuncion said about 100 homes are still under threat from the rapidly spreading fire, the Orange County Register reports. No injuries have been reported. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department said authorities had ordered evacuations for about 100 homes. “These fires are taking off and running on us. And they’re burning very quickly, not necessarily burning thousands and thousands of acres, but enough that it’s burning quickly and into the structures,” Brian Fennessy, fire chief of the Orange County Fire Authority, told reporters.