‘Suspicious’ Fire Chars 1,500 Acres : 2 Men Reportedly Seen Setting Blazes in Cleveland Forest

A spectacular cloud of smoke rose over eastern Orange County Wednesday afternoon as 500 firefighters and 11 air tankers fought a fast-moving brush fire that consumed as much as 1,500 acres of the Cleveland National Forest in the mountains above Silverado Canyon.

No injuries and no damage or threats to homes were reported from the steadily burning blaze. Fire officials said the fire is of suspicious origin.

However, the approximately 800 residents of Silverado Canyon were placed on alert, as were residents along Weirick Road near Corona off Interstate 15 in Riverside County. There were no evacuations, nor any planned. The California Highway Patrol closed Silverado Canyon and Modjeska Canyon roads to traffic, permitting access only to local residents and emergency vehicles.

Water Drops Discontinued

Fire officials estimated that they would be fighting the fire throughout the night and all day today.

At dusk Wednesday, as the fire moved east into Riverside County, water drops from the air were discontinued, but eight air tanker planes and six helicopters were expected to resume the drops at dawn. They will be joined by 150 firefighters on the ground, fire officials said.

Firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service, California Department of Forestry, Orange, Los Angeles and Riverside counties are fighting the blaze.

A base camp for them was set up at Irvine Park in Orange to provide them with medical services, food and lodging.

Customers Report Incident

Firefighters used Maple Spring Road as a fire break between the Silverado fire and a smaller second fire of about 50 acres burning about a mile to the south and known as the Maple fire, Orange County Fire Department spokeswoman Kathleen Cha said.

She said both fires were of “suspicious origin.”

Del Clark, 53, who owns the Shady Brook Country Store in Silverado Canyon, said two customers told him they had seen two men in a dark blue Toyota pickup truck starting fires near Dead Man’s Corner.

One of the customers used the store’s telephone to report the incident to fire officials, Clark said.

Orange County Fire Department spokesmen said that they had questioned some people but had no suspects and that the fire remained under investigation.

The blaze, which began about 2 p.m., moved up rugged mountainsides to an elevation of about 4,000 feet, according to Dick Marlow, spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service, the lead agency. At about dusk, it jumped east across the Orange-Riverside county border.

“We’re throwing everything at it,” Marlow said. “In that country (500 firefighters) is not many. It’s real steep terrain. It’s going to be a lot of work getting a line around it.”

As the night wore on, a dull orange glow was visible on east horizon above the mountains. The larger Silverado fire had moved down toward the heavy, inaccessible terrain of the Temescal Valley, where it is very difficult to move in equipment.

The Silverado fire at first burned chaparral in a “northernly direction from Maple Springs Road,” Marlow said. The homes nearest to the blaze are along Silverado Canyon about two miles to the south and west.

“It was burning fast,” Marlow said. “It makes runs up the hill and drops back and then makes another run.”

Firefighters initially were concerned with keeping the Silverado fire from joining the Maple fire. But as the night wore on, their optimism grew.

According to Orange County Fire Battalion Chief Bill Dean, the last major fire in the area was in January, 1983, in Modjeska Canyon. That blaze burned about 600 acres, and there was a voluntary evacuation of residents and animals. No structures were lost.

A break in the weather may help control the fires in Northern California. Part I, Page 3.