Wind-driven California bush fire prompts evacuations

Residents in Laguna Beach, California were ordered to evacuate in the early hours of Thursday after a brush fire broke out.

The fire was reported shortly after 4am in the Emerald Bay neighborhood, the Orange County Fire Authority reported.

The City of Laguna Beach ordered immediate evacuations for Irvine Cove and the gated community of Emerald Bay, and placed an evacuation warning on North Laguna.

Schools in Laguna Beach, around 50 miles south of Los Angeles, were closed for the day due to the blaze which has been named the Emerald Fire.

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