County’s First Brush Fire of the Season : Laguna Canyon Blaze Blackens 35 Acres

About 35 acres of cattle-grazing land burned along Laguna Canyon Road Friday in Orange County’s first brush fire of the season, but there were no structures damaged and no injuries reported, authorities said.

Commuter traffic along the winding road was blocked from the San Diego Freeway to Coast Highway while 140 firefighters battled the spectacular blaze in 75-degree temperatures.

The road was reopened at 7:25 p.m. when firefighters finished cleaning up the debris left by the fire, a Caltrans spokesman said.

Cause of the fire had not been determined, though investigators speculated a cigarette butt tossed from a passing car might have triggered the blaze, which began at the edge of the busy thoroughfare.

A plume of charcoal-colored smoke was visible for miles as westerly winds stoked the fire at a moderate speed across hilly grassland belonging to the Irvine Ranch.

About 100 homes scattered along a one-mile stretch on the east side of the road were the closest to the flames, but there were no evacuations, county fire spokesman Joe Kerr said.

The fire was reported at 4 p.m. and was contained by 5:45 p.m., Kerr said.

As a helicopter dropped water, bulldozers, three engines from Laguna Beach Fire Department and 14 units from the county Fire Department went into action.

Officials said factors which helped make fighting the fire easier included green chaparral on a hill where the fire was concentrated and a 40% humidity level Friday.

r “We usually have a fire problem when (the humidity level) gets below 30 (percent),” Kerr said.

The fire’s progress was “pretty much stopped” when it reached a hillside dirt road.

A Laguna fire spokeswoman said the popular Festival of Arts grounds, located about one-quarter mile from the fringe of the fire and on the same side of the road, was never in danger.

The 1985 fire season began May 1.

The last brush fire in Orange County destroyed 550 acres along the 91 Freeway in Coal Canyon during a four-day stretch last July. That fire was ignited by an illegal bottle rocket, Kerr said.