Fire Threatens Hillside Homes in East Orange

A 30-acre brush fire Thursday night briefly threatened several hillside homes in a densely populated area of east Orange, fire officials said.

About 25 firefighting units, two bulldozers and a helicopter from fire departments in Orange and neighboring cities, as well as the county, were dispatched to the fire, which threatened homes east of Rancho Santiago Boulevard and north of Chapman Avenue in Orange.

In all, 93 firefighters fought the blaze.

The fire broke out about 7:30 p.m. on a brushy hillside behind Rancho Santiago Junior High School and moved up the rugged terrain to the east, a Fire Department spokesman said. As it spread, the fire broke up into a series of small blazes.

It was brought under control by 9:30 p.m.

Despite early indications that the fire might reach homes, no one was evacuated, said Orange City Fire Engineer Dennis Bueschel.

“I was on top of the house trying to take pictures,” said James Leggat, who watched as the fire moved away from his home in the 400 block of Rancho Santiago Boulevard.

Bueschel said homes in the path of the fire were threatened when it divided and moved simultaneously northeast and southeast toward the residential neighborhoods of Orange Park Acres and Crawford Canyon Road.

Fire units stood by in the hilly residential area, prepared to ward off flames.

But before the fire could reach any homes, bulldozers had cut a line around it, enabling firefighters to bring it under control, a Fire Department spokesman said.

The cause of the blaze was under investigation.