LAGUNA NIGUEL, Calif.—A wildfire scorched over 200 acres in Aliso Wood Canyon May 11, chewing through suburbs with multi-million-dollar homes, destroying at least 20 homes.
“This is a mandatory evacuation; all residents must leave, now,” an Orange County Sheriff’s deputy shouted over an intercom from his cruiser as firefighting vehicles drove past.
“Ma’am, you must leave now!”
The middle-aged woman complied with the officers and started up her SUV. Trash cans lay scattered from high winds in front of the homes of her neighborhood of Niguel Summit.
Firefighters work on extinguishing the Coastal Fire in Laguna Niguel, Calif., on May 11, 2022. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)
Just on the street above, large plumes of smoke and flames scattered down the shrubbery of a hillside while Orange County Fire Authority firefighters shot a powerful line of water into a burning home.
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