2 Firms, Orange Settle Suit Over Gypsum Canyon Fire

The City of Orange has settled with two companies in a protracted legal battle over the cost of fighting the huge 1982 Gypsum Canyon fire, an attorney for the city announced Wednesday.

Under the agreement, McDonnell Douglas Corp. and the G. L. Lewis Co. will pay the city an unspecified amount, and the city will drop its lawsuit against them, said Bruce D. Praet, the city’s attorney. The agreement also specified that the amount paid by the two companies would not be announced publicly, he said.

Spokesmen for McDonnell Douglas and G. L. Lewis confirmed that a settlement had been reached but declined further comment Wednesday.

16,800 Acres Burned

The Gypsum Canyon blaze erupted Oct. 9, 1982. Fueled by hot, dry Santa Ana winds, the fire swept across 16,800 acres, including 3,000 acres where rare Tecate cypress trees grow. Flames destroyed 14 homes and damaged another 72, pushing damage estimates to $18 million.

It took more than 900 people, including 774 firefighters, to suppress the blaze. After the flames were extinguished, authorities estimated that it had cost the county more than $1 million to battle the fire. The state spent an undetermined added amount when it dispatched all of its Division of Forestry firefighters in the Southland area to help with the blaze.

Fire investigators later determined that a faulty utility pole on the McDonnell Douglas property in Gypsum Canyon fell under 40- to 50-m.p.h. winds, sparking a fire in the brush below.

In 1983, however, McDonnell Douglas filed a $112-million lawsuit against the city, alleging that the Orange Fire Department had negligently fought the fire and contributed to its rapid spread.

The city later won that lawsuit and filed its own against McDonnell Douglas and G. L. Lewis, asking for unspecified damages to cover the costs of fighting the blaze. Last February, the city prevailed in that case in Orange County Superior Court.

Firms Appealed Case

The two companies appealed and were awaiting a decision from the 4th District Court of Appeal in Santa Ana when the settlement with the city was reached, Praet said.

Praet also said that 44 different law firms had been involved in scores of lawsuits and cross-complaints arising from the fire.

McDonnell Douglas alone was the defendant in 17 lawsuits charging negligence and violations of state laws in building, maintaining and inspecting power lines at its Gypsum Canyon test site.

“This was a very complex case. It consumed more trees through paper work than the fire did,” Praet said.

Praet said several homeowners still have smaller suits pending against the two companies.

“But cases are being settled just about everyday,” he said. “The important thing is that the main issue has been settled satisfactorily.”