One suspect has been arrested after a brush fire broke out near Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California.
According to the Orange County Fire Authority (OCFA), firefighters responded to reports of the fire around 1 p.m. on Sunday (Oct. 6) and “quickly extinguished” the fire, limiting its impact to 2.81 acres.
The OCFA later disclosed, “After a thorough scene examination, the cause was determined to be intentional, and one suspect is in custody with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.”
“Please pray,” Rick Warren, the church’s founding pastor, said in a social media post on Sunday. “[Two] acres of Saddleback Church have already been consumed by wildfire as of this moment. It’s our main campus (out of 20) in Lake Forest.”
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“A few weeks ago, we had a week of wildfires in our backyard, now this,” Warren added. “So far, no buildings have been in danger. The Lake Forest campus is 120 acres – about half [is] our parking lots.”
Warren’s reference was to one of three wildfires that plagued Southern California last month.
The fire in Orange County, referred to as the Airport Fire, was finally contained over the weekend after burning for 26 days, torching more than 23,000 acres, destroying 160 structures, and injuring 22 firefighters and civilians.
Warren retired as Saddleback’s senior pastor in 2022 but remains an active member of the church. He represented the congregation in an appeal to remain in the Southern Baptist Convention in 2023 after Saddleback was disfellowshipped for ordaining women to the pastorate.
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No injuries or structural damages were reported as a result of the fire near Saddleback Church.
