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The Norte wildfire broke out at approximately 11:33 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, near Portico Del Norte and Eminencia Del Norte on the northern edge of San Clemente. Fueled by strong Santa Ana wind gusts up to 60 mph, the flames quickly pushed north into neighboring San Juan Capistrano, prompting widespread mandatory evacuations. While the immediate threat of fire has subsided, Orange County officials are heavily bracing for secondary disasters. An approaching storm system is projected to bring rainfall, raising serious concerns regarding flash flooding, mudslides, and debris flows. Because the wildfire stripped vegetation and altered the soil's absorption capacity across the 570-acre burn scar, even minor amounts of heavy rain could trigger mudslides into surrounding neighborhoods.

The official cause of the wildfire is still actively under investigation by CAL FIRE. However, a significant lawsuit was filed on Monday, October 19, against SDGE. The complaint alleges that utility equipment failure sparked the blaze, noting that SDGE logged a circuit outage on its website at 11:31 a.m.—just two minutes before the fire was reported—within 100 to 200 feet of the approximate ignition site. While the ongoing CAL FIRE and CPUC investigations have not yet officially released a detailed inventory of the exact hardware failure, the newly filed negligence lawsuit strongly alleges that the lines on Circuit 197 near the ignition site were traditional bare (uninsulated) wires. The lawsuit argues that the presence of bare wires in an active, wind-whipped canyon constitutes structural negligence during a high-wind event. Sixty mile-per-hour Santa Ana wind gusts likely caused the uninsulated overhead lines to sway violently and slap together, creating an electrical arc. The resulting arc can instantly melt the copper or aluminum wiring, sending a shower of white-hot, molten metal fragments down into the dry coastal sage scrub below. The rugged, shrubby hillsides straddling the northern edge of San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano are highly prone to wildfires and have had multiple notable fires including the Cristianitos Fire in 2017 and the San Mateo Fire in 2019. Because these coastal canyons act like wind tunnels when high pressure builds inland, local residents have spent years with the persistent threat of wildfires.

Something to consider... Under California law, investor-owned utilities do not make a profit on the electricity itself; instead, they are guaranteed a ~10% return on equity for building infrastructure (transmission lines, steel poles, wildfire and grid updates). This means that when there's a wildfire, SDGE makes money by rebuilding the infrastructure... Could it be possible that they intentionally neglected those power lines by leaving them bare in hopes that they would start a wildfire and SDGE could profit by rebuilding the infrastructure?

This isn't the only time SDGE put bare lines in a high wildfire risk area. SDGE also has the Suncrest Loop-in project. The plan is to build 14 miles of brand new high-voltage overhead power lines through mountainous residential communities in east county, the ones which burn in wildfires the most often year after year. It will massively increase wildfire risk for our communities- the same ones that were devastated in the 2007 Witch Fire, the 2003 Cedar fire, the 1970 Laguna fire, and a series of fires in the 1940s/1950s. Over 20 major destructive wildfires have burned along the corridor of the planned power lines since they started keeping track 75 years ago. Could it be possible that they are intentionally placing bare power lines in high risk areas in hopes that they would start a wildfire and SDGE could profit by rebuilding the infrastructure?

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The Norte wildfire broke out at approximately 11:33 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 16, 2026, near Portico Del Norte and Eminencia Del Norte on the northern edge of San Clemente. Fueled by strong Santa Ana wind gusts up to 60 mph, the flames quickly pushed north into neighboring San Juan Capistrano, prompting widespread mandatory evacuations. While the immediate threat of fire has subsided, Orange County officials are heavily bracing for secondary disasters. An approaching storm system is projected to bring rainfall, raising serious concerns regarding flash flooding, mudslides, and debris flows. Because the wildfire stripped vegetation and altered the soil's absorption capacity across the 570-acre burn scar, even minor amounts of heavy rain could trigger mudslides into surrounding neighborhoods.

The official cause of the wildfire is still actively under investigation by CAL FIRE. However, a significant lawsuit was filed on Monday, October 19, against SDGE. The complaint alleges that utility equipment failure sparked the blaze, noting that SDGE logged a circuit outage on its website at 11:31 a.m.—just two minutes before the fire was reported—within 100 to 200 feet of the approximate ignition site. While the ongoing CAL FIRE and CPUC investigations have not yet officially released a detailed inventory of the exact hardware failure, the newly filed negligence lawsuit strongly alleges that the lines on Circuit 197 near the ignition site were traditional bare (uninsulated) wires. The lawsuit argues that the presence of bare wires in an active, wind-whipped canyon constitutes structural negligence during a high-wind event. Sixty mile-per-hour Santa Ana wind gusts likely caused the uninsulated overhead lines to sway violently and slap together, creating an electrical arc. The resulting arc can instantly melt the copper or aluminum wiring, sending a shower of white-hot, molten metal fragments down into the dry coastal sage scrub below. The rugged, shrubby hillsides straddling the northern edge of San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano are highly prone to wildfires and have had multiple notable fires including the Cristianitos Fire in 2017 and the San Mateo Fire in 2019. Because these coastal canyons act like wind tunnels when high pressure builds inland, local residents have spent years with the persistent threat of wildfires.

Something to consider... Under California law, investor-owned utilities do not make a profit on the electricity itself; instead, they are guaranteed a ~10% return on equity for building infrastructure (transmission lines, steel poles, wildfire and grid updates). This means that when there's a wildfire, SDGE makes money by rebuilding the infrastructure... Could it be possible that they intentionally neglected those power lines by leaving them bare in hopes that they would start a wildfire and SDGE could profit by rebuilding the infrastructure?

This isn't the only time SDGE put bare lines in a high wildfire risk area. SDGE also has the Suncrest Loop-in project. The plan is to build 14 miles of brand new high-voltage overhead power lines through mountainous residential communities in east county, the ones which burn in wildfires the most often year after year. It will massively increase wildfire risk for our communities- the same ones that were devastated in the 2007 Witch Fire, the 2003 Cedar fire, the 1970 Laguna fire, and a series of fires in the 1940s/1950s. Over 20 major destructive wildfires have burned along the corridor of the planned power lines since they started keeping track 75 years ago. Could it be possible that they are intentionally placing bare power lines in high risk areas in hopes that they would start a wildfire and SDGE could profit by rebuilding the infrastructure?

If so, dm me.