Fire Brings Voluntary Evacuations to Rancho Capistrano (Riverside County's, Not OC's)

The gated Rancho Capistrano community surrounded by Cleveland National Forest near Ortega Highway and west of Lake Elsinore is under voluntary evacuations due to a raging fire. Temperatures are currently 90 degrees F and winds have settled to 11 mph as the fire burns about 175 acres of Morrell Canyon land a mile from Rancho Capistrano.

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The fire does not appear to be headed toward Rancho Capistrano, so the voluntary evacuations are being advised out of an abundance of caution. A campground and Decker Canyon residences that are closer to the fire zone are under mandatory evacuations.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined, and there is no estimate when it might be contained.

The Rancho Capistrano community near the fire is not to be confused with San Juan Capistrano's Rancho Capistrano, where Saddleback Church of Lake Forest owns a retreat and meeting center that used to belong to Crystal Cathedral of Garden Grove.

Email: mc****@oc******.com. Twitter: @MatthewTCoker. Follow OC Weekly on Twitter @ocweekly or on Facebook!

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