Residents of the Trabuco Creek, Bell and Hot Springs Canyons were ordered to evacuate on Tuesday morning amid concerns about mudslides shutting down roads or damaging homes along the burn scar of the Airport Fire. 

As of 10 a.m., the Long and Modjeska Canyons remain under evacuation warnings but residents have not yet been forced to leave. 

The southern California branch of the American Red Cross is operating a shelter for affected residents at the Foothill Ranch Library Annex at 27002 Cabriole Way, Foothill Ranch. 

The county’s public works team also announced this morning they’d be offering sandbags to residents on the corner of Santiago Canyon Rd. and Modjeska Canyon Rd. 

It’s the second time this year those residents have had to evacuate over mudslide concerns, with a previous departure in February where county staff shut down several of the major roads in and out of the canyons as mudslides swamped the roads. 

[Read: OC’s Canyon Residents Cleared to Return Home, Some Roads Still Closed]

Both evacuations came after the Airport Fire burned 23,000 acres in Sept. 2024 after an Orange County public works crew accidentally started a fire in the canyons. 

It’s also been an expensive issue for the county, which has paid out over $72 million to affected residents who lost property in the fire since March of this year.

Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org.

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