U.S. Will Cover O.C. Wildfire Cost

As a stubborn wildfire continued to burn across the canyon lands in northeast Orange County on Wednesday, the U.S. Forest Service said it would cover all firefighting costs because it accidentally started the blaze.

The fire, which has changed direction several times since it broke out before dawn Monday, grew Wednesday to about 8,635 acres. More than 2,000 firefighters were working to bring it under control.

The forest service apologized for letting a small, controlled burn spark a blaze that threatened homes, forcing the evacuation of 2,100 homes in Anaheim Hills and the city of Orange. Residents were allowed to return late Tuesday.

“It’s no different than if it were us going after an arsonist,” said Richard Hawkins, U.S. Forest Service fire chief for the Cleveland National Forest. “Since we’re responsible for the fire, we’re going to pay for the bill for this fire. The consequences have been minimized by the fantastic firefighting efforts of the fire departments involved.”

The cost of battling what’s called the Sierra fire, named after the peak where it started, exceeds $2.25 million so far, officials said. The fire was 35% contained by Wednesday evening. Full containment is not expected before the weekend.

The blaze erupted after federal firefighters thought they had doused a 10-acre prescribed burn conducted last week. Hawkins said Santa Ana winds most likely fanned some smoldering plant roots, igniting the fire. At its height, the blaze forced the closure of four schools.

The prescribed burn was part of a project to rid more than 1,000 acres of potentially fire-fueling vegetation by the end of May. That project has been put on hold until the investigation into the Sierra fire is complete.

Hawkins said the footprint of the Sierra fire will be monitored for months to make sure it does not reignite.

“If it rekindled once, it can rekindle again,” he said.

Meanwhile, four investigators from the California Department of Forestry and the U.S. Forest Service will examine Sierra Peak to determine how the fire got out of control and make recommendations on how to keep future prescribed burns from morphing into wildfires.

Hawkins said prescribed burns are conducted mostly in January and February, when winds are low.

The practice has not been without controversy. Environmentalists generally applaud it, but the timber industry and some residents of forested areas complain that there is too much fuel in the woods to handle with controlled burns. There are also concerns that the fires contribute to pollution.

Hawkins acknowledged that there is always a risk with prescribed burns. Wind can wrest control from firefighters, and unseen roots can smolder for weeks after it’s presumed that a fire has been put out. But, he said, the practice is a cheap and efficient way to prevent forest fires.

“As with any type of fire, whether it’s a house fire or a commercial fire or a forest fire, there’s always a risk of it coming back to life,” Hawkins said.

Controlled burns were blamed for last month’s wildfire in southern Colorado that destroyed at least five houses and burned more than 5,400 acres, forcing the evacuation of several hundred residents.

In February 2004, a prescribed burn charred more than 200 acres and forced the evacuation of the Snow Summit ski area and Bear Mountain Ski Resort near Big Bear Lake.

On Wednesday, firefighters were aided by calming wind. The fire burned east, away from homes and the 241 toll road, a major route between Orange and Riverside counties. The turnpike, which had served as a fire break, was reopened to traffic. Firefighters using water-dropping helicopters, axes and hoses were able to keep the flames east of the toll road. Flying embers caused several smaller fires on the west side of the road, as close as a half-mile from homes. They were quickly doused.

Also Wednesday, firefighters contained about 7% of a brush fire that burned 25 acres of the Santa Monica Mountains in the Malibu area and forced the closure of public schools. Investigators are studying whether a vehicle found burned in the area had sparked the flames.

There were no injuries or homes damaged.