SOUNDING OFF: Fifteen years after the wildfire

The terrible Laguna Beach wildfire was 15 years ago Monday, taking place on Oct. 27, 1993. This unsolved crime was quite an event touching the lives of most all Lagunans.

Five years ago, the Laguna Beach Historical Society sponsored a program on the Laguna wildfire and included information from the Orange County Fire Authority Director of Fire Services Chief Larry Holms’ “Orange County Firestorm 1993” report.

The weather on Oct. 27, 1993, was typical Santa Ana conditions with winds at 40 mph, gusts up to 92 mph, 78 degrees but with a relative humidity of only 6% to 7%. The natural plants surrounding Laguna Beach only had a moisture level of about 4%.

To summarize the Firestorm report, the fire:

?was started by an arsonist;

?destroyed or severely damaged 441 homes;

?burned 14,337 acres; and

?caused $528 million in damages.

The speed of the fire was phenomenal. The top half of Emerald Canyon burned at a rate of 100 acres per minute.

Fire flashed across Laguna Canyon Road in six places, leapt up slopes, and reached 200-foot flame heights.

Fire burned 1 1/4 miles of brush in 17 minutes to Canyon Acres, overran a command post at Thurston School, and jumped Park Avenue. At Temple Hills Drive, 27 homes were lost.

The timeline: at 11:50 a.m. 9-1-1 calls were being received; by 2 p.m. the fires reached Emerald Bay and Boat Canyon, jumped Laguna Canyon Road, reaching Canyon Acres about 3:30 p.m.

The fire raced up the hillside to Skyline Drive/Mystic Hills about 4 p.m. and by 5 p.m. reached El Morro Mobile Home Park and Temple Hills.

About 10 p.m., the winds shifted. The fire was declared contained about midnight.

Law enforcement used both north and southbound lanes of Coast Highway to channel bumper-to-bumper evacuation traffic out of the city. Residents evacuated southward, while firefighters and their vehicles funneled in from the north. Not a single life was lost.

There was tremendous mutual aid from other communities, including:

?345 fire engines;

?17 bulldozers;

?30 aircraft;

?11 hand crews; and

?a total of 1,968 fire personnel.

Holms writes in his report:

“The air tankers, delayed by priorities from the other numerous fires burning in Southern California at the time, would not arrive until approximately 1:40 p.m., 1 hour and 32 minutes from the initial request by the incident commander.

“OCFD’s Laguna incident command staff believed immediate air support could have made the Laguna fire manageable during the first quarter hour of its spread. Helicopters could have made water drops on the head of the fire.”

Today the fire authority has two firefighting helicopters. At least one helicopter is staffed each day, with a crew of two, from the Fullerton Airport during the day.

A partial list of other improvements include building two large water reservoirs at high elevations, installation of 800-megahertz communication system, substantial widening of fuel modification zone around the city, implementation of the Greater Laguna Coast Fire Safe Council’s Red Flag Program, and fire condition signs.

The website of city of Laguna Beach has a two-minute video of the fire that is quite powerful. Just go to LagunaBeachCity.net, and click “About Laguna” and “Video.”

GENE FELDER is treasurer of the Laguna Beach Historical Society.