Fire Officials Issue Warning as State Bakes Hotter, Drier

From the grassy hills of Marin County to the chaparral canyons of Malibu, California’s countryside has become a tinder time bomb as too little rain and a blazing sun parch the Golden State to an explosive crisp.

Fueled by human disregard, California is facing one of its worst wildfire seasons ever, and experts warn that the firestorm that ravaged Pebble Beach on May 31, destroying 32 homes, could be just the beginning.

“California’s fire danger is so severe that every inch of the state has the potential to go up in smoke,” said Jerry Partain, director of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

“This fire season is shaping up to be one of the worst in recent memory,” he said. “We are currently in a period of drought severity.”

And firefighters concede that they can’t assure protection from the fiery threat. “We just don’t have the manpower to protect every home and every life in the state,” Partain said. “More catastrophic fires are only a matter of time.”

An unusually dry winter and early, hot summer have conspired to make this season even worse than 1985, when a rash of fires blackened the equivalent of a mile-wide swath stretching the entire length of California.

Santa Ana Winds

In addition, weather forecasters predict an early onslaught--perhaps this month--of Santa Ana winds, the dry desert gusts that have fanned some of the state’s most destructive blazes.

The fire season traditionally runs from May 15 to Dec. 1, but this year authorities placed firefighters on alert and increased arson patrols a month early.

“We are looking at an explosive situation,” said Jack Wiest, education officer for the Forestry Department. “The energy of a large wildfire can be equated to the energy given off by an atomic bomb.”

Officials also are concerned about apparent apathy among California’s burgeoning hillside population, including failure to replace highly flammable shake roofs and lack of proper brush clearance around structures.

“There is really a lack of interest . . . that it won’t happen to me,” Wiest said. “I’d like to have everybody in the state see the Pebble Beach area. No one would have thought that could happen.”

Public carelessness is another factor worrying firefighters. Ninety-five percent of the state’s wildfires are people-caused, stemming from fireworks, improper use of vehicles, trash burning, arson, campfires and smoking.

The number of wildfires so far this year is double the average. In June alone, there were more than 330 blazes; and 10,000 fires are expected to rage across at least 123,000 acres before the winter rains start in late autumn--if they arrive at all.

Through mid-June, most rainfall amounts around the state were well below their normal marks for this time of year. For instance, Los Angeles had 37% of normal, San Francisco 54% and Yosemite 52%, according to the Forestry Department.

And little relief is in sight, Wiest said. “The 90-day (statewide) forecast said we are going to have above-average temperatures with no rain,” he said.

“The increasingly critical drought conditions, combined with the unsafe practices of the growing number of people moving to and vacationing in the fire danger areas of the state is setting the stage for unprecedented losses of life and property,” Partain said. “Basically, we’re living and recreating in a fire time bomb.”

More than 60% of California is covered by natural--and highly combustible--vegetation. Combined with the state’s mild winters, hot and dry summers, rugged topography and encroaching urbanization, the dry fuel creates one of the world’s most hazardous fire regions, experts say.

In the last 20 years, the state’s population has increased from 18 million to 23 million. During the same period, the number of wildfire outbreaks has doubled. Since 1960, 56 people have died and 2,800 homes have been lost to the ravages of wildfire, with damage estimates averaging $29 million annually.

Experts say the areas of highest fire danger include the coastal and Sierra Nevada mountains from the Sacramento area to the Tehachapis in Northern California, and all of Southern California.

“We are going to be looking at a mirror of 1985 for fires,” said Los Angeles County Battalion Chief Gordon Pearson.

Statewide in 1985, five people died in a series of blazes that destroyed 250 homes, blackened 600,000 acres and caused $95 million in damage.

“We are in trouble,” Pearson said, adding that the Malibu area of the chaparral-covered Santa Monica Mountains is of particular concern.

In 1978, an arson-caused blaze pushed by Santa Ana winds ravaged 161 expensive homes and 25,000 acres on a 10-mile trek across the Santa Monicas from suburban Agoura to the coast at Malibu.

Problem With Arson

Twenty percent of California’s wildfires are arson-caused, and the rate climbs dramatically when conditions are ripe for flame. Blazes have already erupted, Wiest said.

“They are attracted like a firefly to the flame,” he said. “This fire activity gets them stirred up. The arson rate goes up during a fire period. They want to get into the action.”

Los Angeles Fire Department investigator Don Brian says relatively few arsonists are caught because their crime is covert and the evidence is mostly circumstantial. But, he said, when arsonists are apprehended, the conviction rate probably exceeds 90%.

Anticipating a destructive season, the state launched its first fire safety awareness campaign this year, with Gov. George Deukmejian proclaiming “Knots Landing” television star Ted Shackelford honorary chairman.

Spreading the Word

In addition to appearing in a public service announcement, it is hoped that Shackelford’s celebrity would help spread official concerns that California is on the verge of disaster.

One particular audience the state hopes to reach are the seven million people now living in “urban interface” zones--new housing tracts in previously undeveloped areas.

“Most of these people come from city areas and they really aren’t programmed for these fire-safe issues. We are trying to get them educated,” Wiest said. “The whole state is in a mode of urbanization.

“Residential developments, homes and cabins have, like the fall mushroom crops, grown overnight in the state’s rural regions.”

Eight of the 10 fastest-growing counties in the state--Nevada, Calaveras, Lake, El Dorado, Mariposa, Mono, Tuolumne and Amador--are rural, Wiest said. While not rural by population standards, San Bernardino and Riverside counties also have severe population growth paralleling those rural regions, he said.

Fire seasons of the last two decades illustrate that the worst losses have occurred in residential developments adjacent to wilderness:

- In 1970, an arson fire in the suburban Oakland foothills destroyed 36 homes, damaged 37 others and charred 230 acres of watershed.

- In 1977, the Sycamore fire destroyed 234 homes in and around Santa Barbara.

- In 1980, the Panorama fire in San Bernardino County destroyed 355 homes.

- In 1985, the arson-caused Baldwin Hills inferno near downtown Los Angeles destroyed 52 homes and damaged 18 others. Three people were killed by the rampaging firestorm.

Without exception, rural residents are rarely prepared for the infernos that can sweep through brush, timber and neighborhoods in a matter of seconds, destroying lives and property, Partain said.

“Residents, unaware of California’s fire hazards and the meaning of ‘fire-safe’ who build their dream home in the state’s wilderness today, may find their worst nightmares coming true tomorrow,” Partain said.

Firebrands--burning material carried by winds or updrafts--are a major cause of residential destruction. The red-hot cinders can land on wooden shake roofs and ignite them in an instant.

Most new homes built in hillside areas of the state are now required to have roofs made of fire-resistant materials like tile or fiberglass. But many older homes still have dangerous wood-shingle roofs.

Chemical Treatment

Residents are urged to replace these coverings with a safer material or treat their older roofs with a fire-retarding chemical.

“This roof is costing me $15,000, but when you have a home worth a half-million dollars, it’s a good investment,” said Hollywood Hills homeowner Buck Buchanan as workmen replaced his shake roof with a fiberglass material resembling shakes.

Another hazard for hillside residents is brush growing too close to homes.

In most brushy areas of California, homeowners are required to maintain a “defensible space” around their structures, cleared of all undergrowth. And residents are advised to sweep all pine needles and leaves from roofs, eaves and rain gutters and to install a chimney spark catcher.

Also recommended is landscaping with such nonflammable plants as short-leaf aloe, iceplant, crocea and creeping Australia saltbrush.

Natural Oils

Almost anything is better than California’s oily native brush, known as chaparral, experts say.

More than 7,800 square miles of the state are covered with this highly flammable vegetation--a mixture of several species, including shrub oak, chamise, manzanita and toyon.

California’s capricious winds are the most critical weather element contributing to the start and spread of wildfires, officials say.

Many of the state’s most disastrous fires have occurred during extreme fire conditions caused by offshore winds--bone-dry gusts that blow from the interior to the sea, heating by compression as they move down mountain slopes and canyons.

These winds include Southern California’s Santa Anas and the fickle “sundowners” that come up suddenly at dusk along the Central Coast.

Aggravating this year’s fire danger is the prediction of early Santa Anas.

“The National Weather Service says our Santa Ana season will be early, as early as the first part of July,” said Los Angeles City Fire spokesman Gary Svider.

“If we get Santa Anas early, we are going to be in real trouble in Southern California,” Wiest said.

Worsening With Time

Another bleak prediction: California’s fire danger will only get worse in coming years, Partain said.

By the year 2000, the state’s population is expected to reach 31.5 million, a 24% increase, and wildfire outbreaks are expected to increase 47%. This would bring the average per-year estimate to 14,000 fires, Partain said.

“Most frightening of all is that as the frequency of fires and the number of people building their homes and vacationing in the state’s wilderness increases, so will the number of deaths and homes lost,” Partain said.

“The most important CDF goal in the future will be to educate Californians about the state’s inherent fire dangers and to provide them with the knowledge necessary to protect themselves and their property.”