Year: 2007
Beneath the Roar of C-130s
Posted on October 23, 2007 in Photos Santiago Fire
The area around the corner has turned into quite the picnic spot. Someone has even brought out a table and chairs.
An old folk song which reminds me of an Allen Sherman song comes to mind.
I missed the shot of the day when a C-130 flew low over the condominium complex after dropping a load of fire retardant. Wish I’d gotten the photo.
Word is that if you leave Portola Hills they won’t let you back. And, of course, pizza delivery is forbidden.
The Neighborhood Watches
Posted on October 23, 2007 in Santiago Fire
If you want to start at the beginning, click here.
Smoke from one of the arms of the blaze, breaking out along Glenn Ranch Road. Once this has burned through, there’s nowhere for the flames to go except purposefully towards Rick Warren’s Saddleback Church, one of the refugee centers.
The Santiago Heights community is threatened by fire. These flames are moving very slowly because they are going downhill.
A few licks of flame from the previous picture got onto a facing slope. It took the new fire about five minutes to climb from the ravine at the bottom to the tip of the hill. Fire, I was told by one of my neighbors, travels sixteen times faster uphill than down. I can believe it. Good physics: heat rises.
The lack of information leads to speculation. We know that the fire was started by arsonists, but who? “Towelheads,” said one man with a white cairn terrier. “Yeah, must have been towelheads,” said another. “I’d bet it was.” My thinking is that if it was Al Qaeda, they would have claimed responsibility for it by now.
While we were watching from our vantage point in the Canyon Country condominium complex, we saw sheriff’s cars run up every street in the housing development depicted. It was “What the hell are you still doing here?” time. One SUV came out. The firemen were ready to break out the shovels and the hose.
The blaze seems to be headed towards the backcountry where it will putter around for days. It’s probable that once it is finished with Orange County, it will hop the Saddleback and burn on down into Corona, Riverside County.
There’s a ridgeline near here where several people built houses. The road is named the Modjeska Grade. Not so long ago, they were overwhelmed by the fire and you could hear the propane tanks exploding.
Ash Fall
Posted on October 23, 2007 in Photos Santiago Fire
Check the ends of the articles for updates on the situation.
A rain of fine ash such as this is falling as I write this.
The fire burning down Modjeska Grade, towards Santiago Canyon Road, about a quarter of a mile away.
The burned out area near our home. Distance: less than a quarter mile away.
The hero of the hour, one of a team of water bombers which hit the blaze with everything they had.
My neighbors, including Lynn (talking into cel phone to her mother), watching the fire from the top of the hill.
Out of pity, we let the cats out of the carrier. I’m dreading that we’re going to have to put them back in. The winds have died down, but the fire jumped Santiago Canyon Road last night and is now burning out the heart of Modjeska Canyon. Experts are now saying that it will take from five to fifteen days to extinguish.
The jump into Modjeska Canyon means that the fire has all the wild acreage of the Cleveland National Forest to nosh upon. Miles and miles of greasewood that has been shooting out its roots just for this blaze. Greasewood lives to be burned. Once all the surrounding plants have been eradicated, it will send up shoots and take over territory that had belonged to buckwheat or coyote brush or manzanita. The next time a fire comes through, it will burn faster.
The strategy now — what with every single resource in the state going to every fire — is to let this fire burn over the chaparral — give it a good cleaning out — and make a stand at the houses. This is what happened just a couple of hours ago and is still happening. Bombers have been making pass after pass at fires burning right on the edge of new housing complexes. One conflagration came very close — practically across the street.
Recall the photos I put up yesterday, of that fine, scrubby country on the slopes of Dreaded Hill. That’s all cinder-land, toasted, crispy critters. It was near there that the fire zigzagged backwards into Modjeska Canyon where it is now bringing down the dreams of everyone who just had to have a lovely old oak tree shading their house instead of listening to fire men who pontificated on the necessity of having Clearance. A community is going to be dead now, its constituents scattered to the four winds.
The good news about the blackened hills is that once the fire passes over them, they will not be a threat in the future.
Two OC Sheriffs keeping people out of Concourse Park. In the background you can see burnt-over Whiting Ranch Wilderness. Stands of prickly pears are just about the only plants that have not been obliterated by the fire-storm. Last night people were saying what a tragedy it would be in the short run, but, if the rains are good, how beautiful it will be in the spring.
JUST NOW: My periodontist’s office called, wanting to schedule an appointment. “N, you’ve got to call me back. The fire is a quarter of a mile away and we’re getting ready just in case we need to leave.” Click.
UPDATE: How to evacuate (LA Times)
UPDATE: The condominium complex has started running the sprinklers. Every few minutes one set turns on while the previous one turns off. It’s been going like this all day. The gardeners came through and carted off all the leaves, fallen branches, and other debris from the two days of high winds. I marked where the fire extinguishers are just in case the ash ignites a stray pile.
Cat-astrophe
Posted on October 22, 2007 in Cats Santiago Fire
There’s a ~slight~ odor that reminds you of the times Daddy put meat on flames in the summer. But this is indoors. Has he decided to make a tasty chicken or fish in the kitchen instead of on the deck? Then the little black box sings. Daddy picks it up. Yabbers. Goes to the room where they stare at those white boxes for hours at a time. Stares at one of the boxes for a minute or two. Then opens the closet. Now this is getting interesting because you don’t get to see the inside of this very often. What’s he got there? Why is he grabbing those two big, cream-colored boxes, the ones that smell of cats? He takes them out to the front room and suddenly grabs your sister, crams her in one. Then he tries to grab you.
You run up the stairs, round the couch twice and then back down, under the dining room table. He started off shouting at you, but then his voice turned quiet so you knew something was up and it has to do with getting you inside the other box. Then his hands come down, grab the scruff on the back of your neck, and try to force you into the other open box. But you’re going to fix him. Without so much as a scratch or a bite, you push yourself out of his grip, shake free of his hands. Then you disappear. He goes upstairs seeking you while you dissolve into the room with the white boxes at which they like to stare.
Outside, he is closing doors. He closes the bathroom, the bedroom, and the office door. You can hear him open each again in turn, fumble around looking for you. Ah, you have him. He has no idea where you are. You crouch beneath the tiny green chair that smells of generations of cats, confident that you have eluded him. The door to the room opens. You can hear your sister squeaking plaintively. What is he doing? Is he taking you to the Evil One with the Needle? You stay put. If you don’t move…
There’s the slightest flap of the fabric, your hiding place rises up around you, and you are exposed. Dash. Down the hall. Up the stairs with him in hot pursuit. You draw your tail behind the box of CDs and VCRs beneath the television set, hoping that he will not discern your retreat. But he pushes the box back, denying you space. You dash out and go round and round the couch again, down the stairs and into the bathroom, which is the only door he has left open.
Now he has one of his jackets in hand, one that wreaks of his sweat. He tries to net you in this and you nearly evade it. But one of the throws catches you. He wraps you up inside for all of a second. Ah, but you are the most nimble of cats and you are out of it in seconds. You hear the door close behind you as he stomps after you. It’s back up the stairs and around the couch some more times. Then comes the fatal decision. First you make a feint of going down the stairs but in reality you go around the couch. He bears down on you while you take a breather on a small tongue that sticks out from the loft. You break his grip and do the same routine except this time you go down the stairs. He’s out of breath. You stop. Then he pounces and shoves you into the box, snaps the door shut. You are caught and for the rest of the afternoon you whine pathetically while he drags things out of corners and shoves clothes into suitcases. Mommy comes home and she does nothing to free you from this unexpected captivity.
They even have the nerve to leave you for a few hours. Late in the evening, they take the cages into the room where they stare at the white boxes, lay out your food and your water, and free you. Now you’re stuck here watching them in their strange infatuation. Your sister, Fiona, has forgiven these louts but you’ve crawled under the desk and you’re not going to show them the least affection. They have sinned against you for no reason. You will not come out.
Except your sister throws up and you rush out to devour the pieces before she can eat them herself.
Party Time in Concourse Park
Posted on October 22, 2007 in Santiago Fire
All they needed was a keg. Folks from all over the neighborhood brought their cameras and dogs to see 300 foot flames shoot up from the deeps of Borrego Canyon, just on the other side of Dreaded Hill. “It looks like a volcano,” one woman said. Embers smacked up from dense thickets of greasewood and buckwheat, giving the chaparral a nice scrubbing. This land lives for a good fire like this every few years: the philosophy of the OC Fire Authority was to let the flames do their part for Nature. The plan, according to cops, was to make a stand in this park and along the line of houses.
People were glued to park benches, eager witnesses of the moment when the flames would begin to pour into the brushy valley on our side of Whiting Ranch. You might have had trouble distinguishing them from the crowd at the latest Lucas blockbuster. They were there for the news of the disaster (just like we were).
The strangest thing was the wind. As the fire cleared a corridor down Borrego Canyon, a cold wind blew over Concourse Park out of the northwest. It kept switching its directions and not a single person didn’t have her car keys in hand, just in case it shifted a few degrees and brought the inferno into our laps.
In the meantime, it was hurry up and wait for news stronger than rumor.
* * * * *
The congregation gave us opportunities to meet neighbors, a chance I hadn’t had like this since the Quake of 89. Clearly visible to us in the park was the big screen television of one of the houses perched on the hillside overlooking the Serrano Creek drainage of Whiting Ranch Wilderness. One fellow pointed his binoculars at the living room. “He’s watching football,” he announced.
* * * * *
When the Orange County Sheriffs appeared, the crowd in the park congealed around the car. A lone deputy stood, looking around at us, while his partner leaned against the prowler. “We’re waiting for you to tell us what’s happening,” I said to him. “I don’t know,” he replied. “We heard that there were a lot of people up here in the park and we wanted to see what they were looking at.”
We’re not evacuating until they tell us to.
Drawing Near
Posted on October 22, 2007 in Photos Santiago Fire
The line of smoke coming through Borrego Canyon
Local tourists check out the conflagration eating up Foothill Ranch. Wind is blowing from left to right.
The last picture I took before heading back home. Something is going up. And look at all that tinder.
Portola Hills is on voluntary alert — which means everyone has put on their t-shirts and shorts, grabbed a beer and the dog, and walked down to Concourse Park to watch the smoke coming in.
Just got a call that I’ve been waiting for weeks — “You know, I’d really like to talk to you but we have this fire about 3/4 miles away and we’re packing the cars….”
Too Fucking Close
Posted on October 22, 2007 in Santiago Fire
I am taking a breather. The cats are packed away in their cat carriers, thrashing violently. I’ve got the strong boxes out and have quickly packed my suitcase. Next to get the car, the camera, etc. and hope that we’re spared.
From a report by a neighbor, I gather that the fire is on a ridgeline in Foothill Ranch near the corner of Alton and Portola. The Ralph’s supermarket there is threatened. About a mile of chaparral separates me from the blaze and that mile is rough country should the fire get in there. Only one spot where the firemen can take a stand. There’s water there and a flat spot. News says that there are districts in Orange County without fire protection because they are throwing everything in the county at this blaze. Bet the national news people are down here quick to get pictures now. More than 10,000 acres burned in under 24 hours. And the winds are going this way, then that. No sign of the blaze from here, but it is sneaky country here. Lots of places for a fire to hide.
I may flee to Long Beach to sit it out with my cousin. If so, I’ll let you know what is up.
Those of you with my phone number may call.
For the latest information: click here.
UPDATE: This off the Los Angeles Times:
Firefighters battling an arson blaze that is racing toward thousands of homes in Foothill Ranch were forced this afternoon to abandon a mountain peak where they hoped to make a last-ditch stand.
Forty-foot-tall flames and smoldering embers were bearing down on the Lake Forest neighborhood and residents were evacuating after fire officials’ pleas for water-dropping helicopters went unheeded.
The Santiago Fire was deliberately set in three areas next to the 241 toll road about 6 p.m. Sunday, and it exploded quickly, fueled by dense vegetation and fierce Santa Ana winds, fire investigators said. The blaze has scorched more than 15,000 acres near Santiago Canyon and is now threatening Portola Hills.
If caught, someone ain’t going to get a fair jury in Orange County. Would Bill the Lawyer defend him?
Why We Need the War on Terrier
Posted on October 22, 2007 in War on Terrier
Any questions?
Stolen from Brian Kane.
The Storm Resumes
Posted on October 22, 2007 in Santiago Fire
A few minutes ago, shortly after I finished my first article of the day about the local holocaust, I heard my door creaking. Open and shut. Open and shut. Just now I went to close it. The eucalyptus trees, which had stood so straight, bent over. As if it had just been out to lunch, the wind was back.
I’m back to trembling.
Still in the Morning
Posted on October 22, 2007 in Santiago Fire
Daylight has allowed a better look at where the fire has burned. According to the latest report in the OC Register, it has torched 8,800 acres — eight times more than the Malibu fire and in much less time. The country lies west of here, in rolling hills covered by grasslands dried by our waterless winter.
There’s a severe weather alert out:
STRONG SANTA ANA WINDS WILL CONTINUE TODAY AND INTO TUESDAY. AREAS OF NORTHEAST WINDS 25 TO 35 MPH WITH STRONGEST GUSTS TO AROUND 85 MPH WILL OCCUR NEAR AND BELOW PASSES AND CANYONS. THE STRONGEST WINDS AND WIND GUSTS WILL BE BELOW THE CAJON PASS AND NEAR THE COASTAL FOOTHILLS OF THE SANTA ANA MOUNTAINS. WINDS WILL REMAIN STRONG AND GUSTY BUT ARE EXPECTED TO BE SLIGHTLY WEAKER FOR TUESDAY…AND THEN WEAKEN RATHER SIGNIFICANTLY ON WEDNESDAY.
Either this report is wrong (the winds have already subsided considerably) or I have had a lost-weekend-at-the-beginning-of-the-week: the tops of the trees barely move and the current wind speed is a mere 14 mph, still from the NE.
Friends of ours in Irvine, who might have gone to bed next to their suitcases, woke to a better situation than last night. The sky to the west of here is a uniform, thick smoggy gray. As long as winds don’t rematerialize and kick the fire across the 133 toll road into Peters Canyon, the threat to houses is minimal. Firefighters are undoubtably working the line, letting the monster burn itself out.
Maybe later I’ll sneak as close as I can to the firelines and get some pictures of the devastation. For now, all safe — as long as the winds don’t kick up and no one lights a match or lets a spark fly from his ATV up Trabuco Canyon.
Wine Dark Clouds
Posted on October 21, 2007 in Santiago Fire
“Not only is it a strong event, it’s one of the strongest events you’ll get any Santa Ana season,” said Ken Clark, a Rancho Cucamonga-based senior meteorologist for Accuweather.com. “And the strongest winds have not occurred yet.”
Wine-dark clouds roil across the sky about five to six miles west of us. The conflagration hasn’t yet made any of the news services — it’s new. About an hour ago, I told my friend L that all we needed was a careless biker from Cook’s Corner with a cigarette to create problems in this wind — which forecasters now say will flagellate us until Tuesday when the high is going to be 95 degrees (35 for the Celsius crowd). Checking the house — where are the cat carriers, the meds, etc. Thinking about packing bags just in case the winds make a dramatic, ninety degree turn. Scared.
UPDATE: The fire is where I said it was, burping out of the throat of Silverado Canyon where it intersects with Santiago Canyon — way too close for comfort.
UPDATE: The fire is about a mile and a half south of where it was previously thought, at the Tomato Springs just north of the City of Irvine and the old El Toro Marine Corp Air Station. Looks okay for us, but bad for Irvine. Took the following picture from Concourse Park: there’s five miles or so of foothills between us and the blaze which silhouettes Dreaded Hill. Kids were excited and hoping for it to burn closer. Adults, needless to say, didn’t have the same wish.
Sniffing the wind from time to time for traces of smoke. Weather report says that tomorrow is going to be the worst day for winds: in the mid-nineties on Tuesday.
I will keep Twittering.
The Bully of the Foothills
Posted on October 21, 2007 in Weather
The bully of the foothills pounded at my window bright and early. All day it has filled the hole left by rising air in the valley, rushing over the condos towards the sea. Lynn reports that its not quite so bad on the flats where Interstate-5 runs. Just now I heard the first sign of life outside our home: a slamming car door. On days like this, people grab their ankles and rock while they wait for the foehn to still.
