Ortega Fire

Wildfire in Orange and Riverside counties, October 1993

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Printed October 28, 2026 from www.firezones.info/fire/4721/ortega-fire-1993

Key facts

Started October 27, 1993
Contained November 3, 1993, after 7 days
Burned 21,012 acres
5th largest fire of 1993
Cause Miscellaneous
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Where it burned

Counties

  1. Orange County 16,115 acres
  2. Riverside County 4,895 acres

Community

  1. Rancho Mission Viejo 2,191 acres

Acres are the land the fire burned in each county and community, and places where it burned less than an acre are not listed. Communities are cities, towns and the unincorporated places the Census Bureau names, so land outside any of them is counted only in its county.

The same land, other fires

Burned before

  1. 1918 Unnamed fire 556 acres shared
  2. 1921 Unnamed fire 819 acres in total 688 acres shared
  3. 1923 Unnamed fire 2,150 acres in total 106 acres shared
  4. 1925 Unnamed fire 8,650 acres in total 1,608 acres shared
  5. 1927 Unnamed fire 1,857 acres in total 1,619 acres shared
  6. 1928 Unnamed fire 231 acres shared
  7. 1943 Unnamed fire 2,727 acres in total 2,353 acres shared
  8. 1943 Unnamed fire 1,930 acres in total 546 acres shared
  9. 1958 Steward Fire 68,106 acres in total 21,008 acres shared
  10. 1958 Unnamed fire 947 acres in total 292 acres shared
  11. 1958 Unnamed fire 11,775 acres in total 1 acre shared
  12. 1958 Kelly Fire 2,380 acres in total 4 acres shared
  13. 1980 Indian Fire 28,940 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 562 acres shared
  14. 1985 Rancho Mission1a Fire 831 acres in total 8 acres shared
  15. 1989 Ortega Fire 7,752 acres in total · Cause: Miscellaneous 4 acres shared

Burned again

  1. 2009 Ortega 3 Fire Cause: Miscellaneous 16 acres shared
  2. 2019 Ortega Fire 26 acres shared
  3. 2024 Airport Fire 23,526 acres in total · Cause: Equipment use 500 acres shared

Acres are the land each fire shares with the Ortega Fire, and fires that shared less than an acre are not counted. Some older or smaller fires may be missing, and a fire perimeter can include unburned patches. How to read fire history

Sources

Fire history
CAL FIRE Fire and Resource Assessment Program
Published 28 July 2026
Building damage
CAL FIRE Damage Inspection
Updated 19 October 2026

This site is independent and not affiliated with CAL FIRE or the CPUC, so for an official determination, check with the agency or your city or county. How we read the data