The Orange County Fire Authority Saturday reported southern parts of Orange County were getting smoke from fires burning on Camp Pendleton, and assured San Clemente residents that they were not in fire danger.
Three separate brush fires at Camp Pendleton had scorched more than 1,500 acres, and the Marines early Saturday reported progress by firefighters and the lifting of some evacuations.
One fire, referred to as the Vandergrift Incident, broke out around 11:30 a.m. Friday in the Mainside area of the base. It had burned 350 acres and was 70 percent contained Saturday morning, according to a tweet from the Orange County Fire Authority.
The second fire, known as the Horno Incident, was reported as 50 acres at about 7 p.m. Friday but had quickly spread to more than 1,000 acres Saturday.
It was 20 percent contained as of 1 p.m., fire officials tweeted.
Basilone Road was shut down from 43 Area in the center of the base to the 52 Area to the north as a result of that fire.
And a third incident, burning in impact area Range 409, had blackened 250 acres and was 0 percent contained as of about 1 p.m., according to Orange County Fire.
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Evacuations were ordered for Lake O'Neill Recreational Park, the Naval Criminal Investigative Service building, the O'Neill Heights housing community, DeLuz Family Housing and DeLuz Child Development Center on Friday, and evacuees were directed to the Paige Field House. Around 750 homes had been evacuated around by 3 p.m. Friday.
By 10 p.m., Camp Pendleton tweeted that three specific areas -- O'Neill Heights housing, Wounded Warrior regiment and 27 Area barracks -- were cleared to be reopened. The base also tweeted around 4:30 a.m. Saturday that De Luz housing was cleared to be reopened, but De Luz Road remained closed near Vandergrift Boulevard.
It was unclear how many homes remained evacuated.
