Saugus canyon residents mull evacuation

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Standing on a ridge at the end of Celestial Lane, their cul-de-sac, Michael Klastorin, 50, and his neighbor Jason Altman, 43, examined the blackened hillside 50 yards behind their homes. Klastorin said he had awakened at 4 a.m. and seen the glow of the fire just beyond the hill. ‘Ominous would be a good word,’ he said.

As they stood on the ridge, the men saw another fire start just across the valley in a bowl-type canyon perhaps a quarter of a mile away. They watched as winds caught those initial flames, then consumed and charred the bowl within a minute or two.

‘Whoa, that’s how fast it is,’ Klastorin said. ‘It comes up that fast.’

Then black smoke poured up over a ridge about 200 yards north of their vantage point, accompanied by the sounds of cracking wood and roaring winds. It appeared that a fire road at the top of the ridge would stop that blaze.

Yellow tanker planes and helicopters roared overhead, apparently en route to a blaze on a small mountain at the top of the neighborhood of Tuscan-style homes. Then came the sirens of law enforcement vehicles, notifying residents that it was time to leave.

‘They’re doing mandatory evacuations right now,’ Altman said to his neighbor.

‘They must be seeing something we’re not seeing,’ Klastorin replied. ‘We’re not out of the woods yet.’

The men eventually walked back toward their homes, then down the road and drove away.

But others didn’t see an immediate risk, especially considering that they weren’t asked to evacuate earlier, when the fire was so much closer to their homes.

In his driveway on Discovery Ridge, just down the way, Luciano Carducci, 54, flagged a sheriff’s vehicle. The deputies told Carducci that he still had a few minutes but that he should evacuate his family as soon as he reasonably could.

As they spoke, Carducci’s sons, ages 7 and 5, hung out nearby. Carducci surveyed his home, surrounded by heavily watered, fire-retardant iceplant. He said his Toyota minivan was packed with clothes, sodas and a football for the boys.

‘I don’t want to go because I just don’t see it, but we want to be obedient,’ he said. ‘The officer said we’ve got some time.’

What does he think will happen? ‘Only God knows,’ Carducci said. ‘He’s in control.’

Not far away, several people stood looking at a hillside denuded by the early-morning fire. A few trails of smoke twisted lazily into the air and two girls, perhaps 12, picked their way across the blackened slope.

Mike Rich and his family stood on Valley Oak Place, looking down at the scene. Suddenly his son, Chance, 7, brightened. ‘Mom, look at the bike track!’ Chance said. ‘It’s burned, but there are still jumps.’

-- Joe Mozingo in Saugus