Raw clips from the Holy fire, which began Monday in Orange County and burned more than 10,236 acres through the Cleveland National Forest and into Riverside County.
The Holy fire marched toward Lake Elsinore on Thursday afternoon, forcing a new round of evacuations as flames came perilously close to homes.
Residents living in homes on the mountainside of Lake Street and in the southeast region from Grand Avenue to Ortega Highway were told by the U.S. Forest Service to leave their homes immediately as the fire moved their way.
The Holy fire began Monday in Orange County and burned more than 10,236 acres through the Cleveland National Forest and into Riverside County. It was 5% contained. As night fell, the fire could be seen from across Southern California as it burned along the peaks of the Santa Ana Mountains.
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On McVicker Canyon Road and Edgewood Drive, Todd Campbell sat on a ladder leaning against his garage. A second ladder leaned on the rooftop.
Despite the evacuation orders, Campbell had stayed behind to protect his two-story home. He was using garden hoses to water his roof, trying to keep an eye on embers that could spark spot fires.
“I put one out on my neighbors’ side,” he said.
For a while, the situation looked grim. Trees swayed as the winds continued to gust. Ash fell from the sky as smoke from the charred canyons reduced visibility.
Above, a DC-10 was dropping fire retardant and helicopters swooped down to make water drops. Still, the flames raged.
“It got to a point where it felt fruitless because of the intensity of the heat and winds,” Campbell said. “It was too overwhelming.”
In the end, the air attacks made a difference.
“The firemen have done a really good job,” Campbell said.
Ana Tran and her friend, Bao Vinh, 33, got in her car when the fire approached. They opened the garage door and saw fire retardant falling from above on homes, cars and plants.
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They then noticed the flickering flames behind homes, black smoke billowing and ash falling.
“It was so scary,” she said.
Tran sped past firefighters heading in to defend homes and neighbors who were also trying to flee the inferno. But she decided to pull to the side and wait it out. After a while, she returned to find her neighborhood still standing.
But billowing smoke made her feel like her neighborhood had been attacked.
“It feels like a war zone,” she said.
“I don’t even recognize the neighborhood,” Vinh added.
Officials said Thursday night that despite the raging battle, no new homes had been lost. Poor weather conditions, however, temporarily grounded aircraft. Those operations did eventually resume. Even though many in Orange County saw flames from the blaze tonight, officials said the fire was not burning back in that county.
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A firefighter douses hot spots in the McVicker Canyon neighborhood of Lake Elsinore. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Kenneth Leishman’s home is pink from fire retardant in the McVicker Canyon neighborhood of Lake Elsinore. Leishman stayed to protect his house from the fire. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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A bird perches on a rock Saturday morning at a lookout on Ortega Highway. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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An air tanker drops fire retardant on a flare-up of the Holy fire on a mountain ridge above Lake Elsinore, Calif. Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi / Gina Ferazzi)
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People watch as the Holy fire rages on a mountainside in Temescal Valley. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Fire crews from Ventura County brace themselves as fire retardant falls on them after being dropped from the sky while they work to stop the progression of the Holy fire in Lake Elsinore. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Helicopters make drops near homes threatened by the Holy fire in Lake Elsinore. (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times)
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As the sun rises above Lake Elsinore on Saturday morning, the overnight crew working to contain the Holy fire prepares to leave. Containment levels have continued to rise since the fire broke out Monday. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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The charred remains of vehicles lie along Ortega Highway on Saturday. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Residents keep watch Friday night as the Holy fire burns out of control in the hillsides above Temescal Valley. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters try to stop the progression of the Holy fire as it makes its way toward homes due to the strong evening winds from Lake Elsinore. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Stephen Woodward looks towards the sky as helicopters make rounds from Lake Elsinore to the hillside in their fight against the Holy fire on Friday. (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times)
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Jeff Qualls stands on his roof to watch an air tanker drop fire retardant on flames from the Holy fire as it make its way down the hillside in Lake Elsinore, Calif. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Fire retardant paints a Lakeland Village neighborhood pink in Lake Elsinore, Calif. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters try to stop the progression of the Holy fire as it makes its way toward homes due to the strong evening winds in Lake Elsinore, Calif. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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An air tanker drops a load of water to save a home in Lake Elsinore, Calif. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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A helicopter fighting the Holy fire drops water on flames at North Main Divide along Ortega Highway. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters battle to save a home from a wall off flames as the Holy fire continues to burn out of control in Lake Elsinore, Calif. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Residents and law enforcement wear breathing mask to avoid the thick smoke created by Holy Fire in Lake Elsinore. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Chief Mark Lamont, center, oversees firefighting operations at North Main Divide along Ortega Highway. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Two dozers cut a fire line next to flames at North Main Divide along Ortega Highway. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Afternoon winds fan flames close to a home north of Grand Avenue in Lake Elsinore, Calif. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighter Jon Polansky rest after working an overnight shift at a lookout on Ortega Highway above Lake Elsinore. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Kai Cano rest after working an overnight shift at lookout on Ortega Highway. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters watch for flareups as they prevent the flames from the Holy fire from crossing the Ortega Highway in Lake Elsinore. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters conduct a burn operation to remove fuel around homes on Grand Avenue as the Holy fire grows to more than 10,000 acres. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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Fire crews watch as a helicopter makes a water drop on a flareup as they prevent the Holy fire from crossing the Ortega Highway above Lake Elsinore. (Marcus Yam / Los Angeles Times)
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The Holy fire, which has grown to more than 10,000 acres, is reflected off the water of Lake Elsinore. (Maria Alejandra Cardona / Los Angeles Times)
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Jeff Itschner, 43, sprays water on the bushes at his in-laws’ home on Amorose Street near Leach Canyon in Lake Elsinore. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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A helicopter makes a water drop on burning brush on a hill across from homes in Lake Elsinore. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Manuel Trujillo packs his belongings as flames from the Holy fire approach his Lake Elsinore neighborhood. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Firefighters struggle to keep the Holy fire from jumping Lincoln Street toward homes in Lake Elsinore. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
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Residents evacuate the 29000 block of Sandpiper Drive in Lake Elsinore as the Holy fire approaches homes. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Flames come close to homes in the 29000 block of Sandpiper Drive in Lake Elsinore. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Worried residents watch as flames advance toward their homes on Sandpiper Drive in Lake Elsinore. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Stephanie Caceres packs her belongings into her car as the Holy fire approaches homes on Sandpiper Drive in Lake Elsinore. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Cal Fire’s Mario Gonzalez keeps an eye on the Holy fire raging near homes in Leach Canyon. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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An air tanker fights the Holy fire, which forced more evacuations of neighborhoods in the Lake Elsinore area Wednesday. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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The Holy fire on Wednesday approaches Lake Elsinore’s McVicker Canyon neighborhood, which is under mandatory evacuation orders. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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Two men monitor the Holy fire from a rooftop as it approaches the McVicker Canyon neighborhood in Lake Elsinore. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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The Trabuco Canyon home of arson suspect Forrest Gordon Clark, 51, stands untouched amid charred remains in his neighborhood. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)
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Chris O’Neal, a video journalist from Laguna Niguel, is silhouetted by a smoke-obscured sun as a fire helicopter keeps an eye on the Holy fire approaching McVicker Canyon. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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The Holy fire reached very close to homes in a Lake Elsinore neighborhood forcing evacuation and deployment large air tankers. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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The Holy fire burns toward homes in a Lake Elsinore neighborhood, forcing evacuation orders and the deployment of large air tankers. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Smoke from the Holy fire darkens the sky over the Glen Ivy Golf Club as the blaze burns on the mountain ridges around Corona. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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The Holy fire in the Cleveland National Forest pushed closer to some homes Wednesday, prompting a new round of mandatory evacuations. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Lester and Blanca Fronk watch for planes fighting the Holy Fire in Lake Elsinore. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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U.S. Forest Service fire crews make their way to the Holy fire, burning on mountain ridges in the Cleveland National Forest near Corona. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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Bob Tyler clears his driveway covered by ashes from Holy Fire falling on his neighborhood of 11000 block of Kingbird Drive in Corona. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)
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A plane drops fire retardant on the Holy fire burning in Cleveland National Forest above a home in Lake Elsinore on Aug. 7. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
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A man prepares to fish as smoke rises from the Holy fire in the Cleveland National Forest in Lake Elsinore on Aug. 6. (Mario Tama / Getty Images)
Authorities say the Holy fire was intentionally set.
Forrest Gordon Clark, 51, was arrested on suspicion of two counts of felony arson, one count of felony threat to terrorize and one count of misdemeanor resisting arrest in connection with the ignition of the blaze.
It was not immediately clear how the fire was set. Clark was booked Wednesday and was being held on $1-million bond.
Susan Kang Schroeder, spokeswoman for the Orange County district attorney’s office, said it would file criminal charges against Clark.
“We expect to bring him to justice for these terrible crimes,” she said.
An arrest has been made in relation to the Holy Fire. Forrest Gordon Clark, 51, was booked into Orange County Jail on August 8, 2018, on suspicion of two counts of felony arson, one count of felony threat to terrorize, and one count of misdemeanor resisting arrest. pic.twitter.com/CMspxOIvSk
Clark is slated to appear in court Thursday, records show.
The Holy fire, which was 5% contained and burning toward Horsethief Canyon and McVicker Drainage, broke out Monday and has destroyed 12 structures.
Gov. Jerry Brown issued an executive order Thursday to expedite recovery efforts in areas hardest hit by California’s wildfires.
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Assisting fire-ravaged communities in Lake, Siskiyou, Shasta, Mendocino and Napa counties, the order suspends regulations on clearing fire-related debris and eliminates limits on the number of hours emergency personnel can work. More than 13,000 firefighters are battling blazes across the state.
The order also suspends planning and zoning requirements and waives state fees for manufactured homes and mobile home parks, extends a state ban on price gouging during emergencies, and allows accelerated hiring of additional personnel for emergency and recovery operations.
It comes nearly two weeks after the governor declared a state of emergency in Mendocino, Lake and Napa counties. Last week, Brown announced that the White House had approved his request for a federal major disaster declaration in Shasta County.
Eighteen wildfires that continue to burn across the state have scorched about 600,000 acres, an area nearly the size of Sacramento County. The largest is the Mendocino Complex fire — made up of the Ranch and River fires — which has burned more than 300,000 acres and is the biggest fire ever recorded in California. It was 51% contained as of Thursday morning.
Times staff writer James Queally and Alex Riggins of the San Diego Union-Tribune contributed to this report.
Ruben Vives is a general assignment reporter for the Los Angeles Times. A native of Guatemala, he got his start in journalism by writing for The Times’ Homicide Report in 2007. He helped uncover the financial corruption in the city of Bell that led to criminal charges against eight city officials. The 2010 investigative series won the Pulitzer Prize for public service and other prestigious awards.
