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Baker Fire: 250-acre OC fire now 40-percent contained
An image of the Baker Fire burning east of Santa Ana Sunday.
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@bcburbridge via Twitter
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Nearly 250 Orange County firefighters worked today to contain a fire that started at a waste recycling business in Santiago Canyon and spread to 50 acres, prompting a score of residents to evacuate.
The fire was 40 percent contained by mid-morning, according to the Orange County Fire Authority.
The fire started around 10 a.m. Sunday in a mulch pile at Aguinaga Green, a business that recycles green waste at 27910 Baker Canyon Rd., near Black Star Canyon Rd., according to OCFA Capt. Steve Concialdi. What sparked the fire was under investigation. The fire then spread into wild vegetation in the Santa Ana Mountains and damaged a barn, he said.
Water-dropping helicopters and fixed wing aircraft were deployed during daylight hours Sunday, Concialdi said.
Concialdi said there was a voluntary evacuation order issued for residents of six Baker Canyon homes and a nearby mobile home park, and 21 residents left their homes. A Red Cross evacuation center was set up at El Modena High School at 3920 E. Spring St. in Orange, he added.
"So far there are 21 residents from that area who have come to the evacuation center," Concialdi said early this morning.
Concialdi said one firefighter suffered a minor injury battling the fire Sunday.
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