I woke up this morning to strong winds and the sound of loose cans from a recycling bin being scattered around on the side of our house . Those winds were only 10-15 mph but further east they were stronger. And south along the coast they were blowing at closer to 20 mph.

Sometime around noon a fire got going near San Clemente where the winds were strongest. No one seems to know the precise source yet, but the fire quickly erupted and spread. By 4 PM it had burned more than 460 acres and several homes, despite the best efforts of firefighters. It's being called the Norte fire.

The Norte Fire exploded to 465 acres and remains 0% contained as of 4 p.m.

O.C. Fire Authority officials said the Norte Fire started around 11:30 a.m. near Portico Del Norte and Eminencia Del Norte in San Clemente, east of Interstate 5. Fueled by strong Santa Ana winds, the wildfire then blew into neighboring San Juan Capistrano.

OCFA Capt. Steve Concialdi told KTLA that at least six homes have been impacted by the flames.

It didn't help that the temperature was back up yesterday and today after dropping over the weekend. The high in San Clemente today was about 96 degrees. There are lots of images and video:

Evacuations have been ordered for the area:

Five zones in San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano were under evacuation orders while surrounding areas had evacuation warnings in effect. Evacuation shelters have been opened at community centers in both San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano, Orange County fire officials said.

Orange County sheriff’s deputies were going door to door in areas under evacuation order telling people to leave for their safety, Sgt. Lizbeth Gwisdalla, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s department, told CNN.

The number of homes destroyed so far is probably 4-6 but it's difficult to tell and reports are still coming in.

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Hundreds of firefighters are now committed to getting this under control.

Some 500 firefighters had been sent to battle the blaze from the sky and from the ground, said Capt. Steve Concialdi, a spokesman for the fire authority, which is managing the response to the Norte fire. One of those firefighters, he said, was treated for heat exhaustion.

“We’ll have firefighters out here for a number of days,” he said, although firefighters had headed off the flames’ progress in at least one direction, and he was optimistic that the fire would be contained soon.

Two other fires have been burning in southern California this week.

The Henderson fire in the Camp Pendleton area north of San Diego had burned roughly 2,080 acres as of Tuesday afternoon, but early evacuation orders had been lifted. Still, the smoke from the fire prompted the authorities to close Interstate 5, a major artery connecting San Diego and Orange counties.

Farther north, hundreds of firefighters had started to gain control of the Bryson fire, which was burning through dry brush in the Santa Monica Mountains north of Malibu, Calif. The Bryson fire ignited late Thursday afternoon and quickly spread to more than 100 acres and forced evacuations. On Friday afternoon, about 12,000 people were under evacuation warnings, according to a New York Times analysis.

The good news is that winds in San Clemente are dying down and should drop off more tomorrow. Hopefully that will slow the spread of the Norte fire.