The Santa Ana winds have come along and showed exactly what they are capable of doing.  On Monday afternoon right after 1 p.m, smoke from a horrendous fire could be seen by passengers in planes in John Wayne airport all the way from West Covina due to dry air and the wind shifting directions.

The fire began on the side of the 91 freeway off of Gypsum Canyon Road and has been named the Canyon Fire.

As this was a brush fire that spread extremely quickly, there has been a minimum of 2,000 acres that have been burned.

On Monday night, the Corona Fire Department urged 1,000 to 2,000 residents in affected areas to evacuate their homes in order to

secure their safety.

The areas in which people were removed from their homes included Dominguez Ranch and homes south of Green River Road.

Those who live in these homes were given shelter at Corona High School in the gymnasium.

Such a large number of people are not able to gather their belongings.

“Individuals are displaced which may cause people the inability to work or attend school.  People who are unable to work may affect their ability to pay bills and some may lose their homes,” said Mrs. Gorrie, a business teacher at ERHS.

Traffic became very heavy on local freeways such of the 91 , 55, 71, 241, and 5.  People passing by on the 91 heading west claimed they could smell the smoke from the freeway.

On the 91 freeway heading east, the slow lane was closed in order to keep people off the streets near the fire.

As of Tuesday morning, one home was completely destroyed.  On top of that, the side of the 91 freeway heading east is black with ashes from bushes and grass that has been burned from the blaze.  Small flames and smoke could be seen on the side of the freeway, just burning the local canyon.

While everything appears to be torched, it makes it hard to believe there will be any green in the canyon this upcoming season.  Mrs. Gorrie says, “The environment will revive itself if the rainfall this season is adequate.  My hope is that there will not be slides because of the rainfall since that could also negatively affect the homeowners.”

While the Santa Ana winds have been ferocious for a few days, they will be slowing down and settling beginning Wednesday which will make it much easier to defeat the Canyon Fire.

Several schools within Corona Norco Unified School District had to cancel classes, as the air quality is not healthy for students and can greatly harm them.

Mrs. Gorrie stated, “The most crucial thing is for all residents and students to stay safe and remain in a healthy state.”

Empowering winds ranging from 20 to 25 miles per hour were causing the flames to expand.  There were at least 800 firefighters from Anaheim along with other members of the U.S. forest service firefighters and the city of Orange firefighters.  Multiple planes and helicopters could be seen dropping fire retardants.  The hope is for everyone to remain safe and not allow for this natural disaster to escalate.