A time-lapse video captured the explosive growth of a wildfire in Orange County that has destroyed homes and burned tens of thousands of acres in two Southern California counties.

The Airport Fire, one of three major wildfires in Southern California, began Monday and raged from Trabuco Canyon to Lake Elsinore in a matter of hours. By Thursday morning, the fire had burned more than 23,400 acres with 5 percent containment.

Cooler temperatures were forecast, which will help firefighters in their efforts to contain the blaze, which has destroyed an unknown number of homes and injured 10 firefighters and two other people.

“We had a lot of recovery (Tuesday) night because it cooled down,” said OCFA Division Chief Kevin Fetterman. “Last night it was 60 degrees, so that helped us improve those containment lines. That containment is expected to increase in our next report.”

Fetterman added that the weather change overnight slowed the spread of the fire and allowed firefighters to better contain the blaze.

“Most of those firefighters were injured from heat-related illnesses,” said Capt. Steve Concialdi of the Orange County Fire Authority. “But one was stung by numerous bees, and one suffered minor burns, and the other couple had some injuries from fighting the fire, but they’ve all been released from the hospital and are doing well.”

During a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Fetterman reported that two civilians were injured, one suffering a medical emergency and the other suffering from unknown burns. A total of 10 firefighters were also injured.

The Holy Fire burns in 2018 and 2022 also created fire breaks.

The airport fire began around 1 p.m. Monday near Trabuco Canyon Road in the area of ​​the remotely piloted aircraft airfield, said Capt. Sean Doran of the Orange County Fire Authority. Concialdi said the fire had raced up the canyons and hills and into Riverside County by Tuesday morning. The fire also swept across Santiago Peak, home to a series of radio and television towers used not only by local media but also by federal and local government agencies. The fire appeared to have reached the base of some of the towers, but the equipment did not appear to have sustained serious damage.

Early Tuesday evening, the flames were moving downhill toward Lake Elsinore. Video from the area shows several buildings and vehicles destroyed by the flames.

TJ McGovern, deputy chief of the Orange County Fire Authority, told reporters Monday night that the fire was accidentally started by a county work crew. McGovern said Orange County Public Works crews were working in the area near Trabuco Creek Road, using heavy equipment to place boulders that were intended to replace barriers used to restrict access to vegetation.

The OCFA used new firefighting helicopters that could drop 10,000 gallons of water on the flames, Doran said.

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So far in 2024, California fire officials have reported more than 6,000 wildfires that have burned more than 977,000 acres. The acreage burned is a dramatic increase from 2023, when Cal Fire reported 5,053 wildfires that burned 253,755 acres. The five-year average is 5,912 wildfires and 868,803 acres burned.