Wind-Driven Fire Menaces Norco Homes

A brush fire fanned by Santa Ana winds gusting to 50 m.p.h. burned to within 10 feet of homes in Norco before firefighters and residents managed to douse the flames Sunday, authorities said.

The fire, which seared 320 acres in Norco and Riverside, began on the outskirts of Riverside, on a brushy hillside just east of Crestlawn Memorial Park about 10:30 a.m. By the time firefighters from Norco and Riverside County arrived, flames were sweeping over the hills separating the two cities and threatening homes along Crestview Drive in Norco.

Residents were advised to evacuate but many chose to stay and turned on hoses and sprinklers to protect their homes, fire officials said.

Norco Fire Chief Herb Jewell said his department, with assistance from Orange County, Riverside City and County and Corona Fire departments and firefighters from the U.S. Navy Fleet Analysis Center in Norco, placed fire engines at each of the houses nearest the flames and ignited backfires to fight the blaze.

Santa Ana winds were reported gusting to 50 m.p.h. in the area Sunday, but Jewell said the quick response by area fire departments and the fact that the wind began to change direction and dissipate slightly as the fire approached residential areas were the keys to avoiding structural damage. The brush fire was officially controlled at 2 p.m., he said.

About 75 homes were included in the evacuation order, Jewell said, including many south of the main body of fire off Mt. Rushmore Drive, where Orange County firemen operated Sunday. Jewell said embers from the main fire ignited smaller blazes in the area and prompted concern for the wooden shake roofs in the area.

Norco Animal Control officers also assisted by removing animals, including horses, from any homes where residents were away for the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Some horses were taken to nearby Ingalls Park until the danger was past, Jewell said.

An evacuation center was set up briefly at Riverview Elementary School by the American Red Cross and Corona-Norco Unified School District officials. But few apparently availed themselves of the service, preferring to guard their homes.

Tom Dennington, a Riverside County Fire Department engineer, said the fire “created its own wind” as it came over the hill and the loss of some homes seemed inevitable for a time. “You couldn’t even see 10 feet in front of you for the smoke when I got here,” he said.

Standing next to a Riverside County fire truck on his hillside home, Norco resident Wayne Meeks said he first saw the fire from afar. “Actually, I was across town when I saw the smoke so I came back home. When I got here, the fire was coming over that hill.”

As soon as it became clear that the fire was doused, resident Veronica MacDonald hurried down 8th Street to pick up her two dogs from a friend’s home. She said the residents banded together with hoses and offered shelter when the fire broke out. “The neighbors did an awful lot,” she said. “We all help each other up here.”