O.C. fire chief: ‘We’re still worried about the Silverado Canyon area’

Firefighters in Orange County on Wednesday focused on eliminating the last unburned patch of land within the bounds of the 28,500-acre Santiago fire, in advance of the Santa Ana winds expected this weekend.

“We’re still worried about the Silverado Canyon area,” Orange County Fire Authority Battalion Chief Kris Concepcion said. “That’s why Silverado Canyon is the last area still under evacuation.”

Firefighters had planned to set a controlled burn Wednesday to eliminate the remaining fuel. “There is a large unburned island within the fire’s perimeter that needs to be burned out,” Concepcion said.

Officials said the fire -- which destroyed 15 homes and damaged numerous others -- was 90% contained. Full containment is expected Sunday.

By then, Concepcion said, it’s likely that the Santa Ana winds will again be blowing. But the winds, expected to blow from early Friday through Saturday, will probably be “more moderate” than those of more than a week ago, he said. “We have contingencies in place. It could potentially kick up the fire, but we don’t expect it to do that.”

He did not detail what those contingencies are.

After meeting in Los Angeles with the California Assn. of Governments on the rash of wildfires that began Oct. 20, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger took a more strident tone.

“We’re not out of the danger zone yet,” he said after directing state agencies and the National Guard to be prepared for possible new fires that could be fanned by the predicted winds. State officials, he said, are “watching the weather very closely.”

And Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Alpine) announced that several C-130 aircraft deployed to fight Southern California’s wildfires would remain in the state for the time being “to deliver a quick knockout punch to any fire restarts.”

The planes, which conducted 74 missions during this month’s fires, were sent to California last week from military bases in North Carolina, Colorado and Wyoming.

In San Diego County, the remaining evacuation orders were lifted Wednesday, enabling residents of the La Jolla Indian Reservation and the Palomar Mountain community to return to their homes and businesses. The area was struck by the Poomacha fire. Also, Fallbrook Hospital reopened after a nine-day closure as a result of the Rice fire.

Eleven state parks throughout the Southland have reopened: Cuyamaca Rancho State Park; San Elijo State Beach; San Onofre State Beach’s San Mateo Campground; Silver Strand State Beach and South Carlsbad State Beach in the San Diego area; Crystal Cove State Park’s primitive campsites; Doheny State Beach and San Clemente State Beach in Orange County; Lake Perris State Recreation area in Riverside County; and Chino Hills State Park and Wildwood Canyon in San Bernardino County.

But San Diego County’s San Pasqual Battlefield, which burned almost completely, and Palomar Mountain State Park -- about 65% of which burned -- remain closed. Mount San Jacinto State Park in Riverside County wasn’t damaged by fire but remained closed because it is surrounded by the San Bernardino National Forest, which is closed.

Arson investigators in Orange County, meanwhile, announced that they were no longer seeking the driver of a white Ford F-150 pickup allegedly seen near where the Santiago fire began.

“The owner was interviewed, provided information and was cleared,” Concepcion said. “Now we’re focusing on finding the 30 to 40 people who were in the vicinity” of Black Star Canyon Road, where officials believe the blaze was sparked by arson about 6 p.m. Oct. 21.

Those people are not suspects, he said, but “we’re asking if any of them have video or still photos to please share them with us.”

Investigators have no suspects, he said.

Evacuees whose homes were threatened by the fire began returning to their residences earlier this week. The remaining evacuees from Santiago Canyon, Concepcion said, should be able to return when the fire is fully contained.

By late Wednesday, he said, about 1,950 firefighters remained on the scene. But he said officials were “doing a strategic mobilization right now to see what we need. We’re starting to ramp down” to a much smaller crew.

david.haldane@latimes.com

Times staff writers Mary Forgione and Tony Perry contributed to this report.