San Juan Capistrano Brush Fire Contained

A brush fire that blackened 2,384 acres near Ortega Highway in San Juan Capistrano was fully contained Monday afternoon, and Orange County fire officials expected to declare the blaze extinguished by this morning.

A last “finger” of the fire that had troubled firefighters was tamed, and officials declared the blaze fully contained at 2 p.m., said Orange County Fire Department spokeswoman Kathleen Cha. The blaze was considered 95% controlled, or extinguished, and firefighters planned to stay at the scene until 6 a.m. today to make sure no “hot spots” erupted again, she said.

The fire began shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday, caused by arcing wires touching a tree near La Plata Avenue, about six miles inland, she said. Whipped by winds, it burned erratically south, towards San Clemente. At one point Sunday, the flames frightened residents, but never reached the point where people had to evacuate, Cha said.

By Monday morning, the flames were 90% contained, but the last segment burned up a ridge in rugged terrain, causing a potential threat to some homes, before the blaze was contained with no structural damage, Cha said.

Temperatures at the scene were in the 100s Monday but the wind which fueled the flames Sunday died down, she said.

Sunday was a “red flag alert day,” signifying the “worst conditions for fire,” including high heat, low humidity and winds, Cha said. Monday “was not considered a red flag alert, but close to it,” she said.

The blaze was fought by 407 firefighters Monday, fewer than the more than 500 who battled it Sunday. County firefighters were assisted by forces from Buena Park, Anaheim, Westminster, Brea, La Habra, Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Garden Grove, Orange, Newport Beach, Los Angeles County and the California Division of Forestry.

Their equipment included 37 engines, 10 bulldozers, three water tenders, 14 hand crews and an air tanker.

One firefighter suffered minor heat exhaustion and was treated at Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, Cha said.

Ortega Highway was closed to everyone but residents because of the fire, the California Highway patrol reported.

Meanwhile, Two acres of dry bamboo shoots, as tall as 40 feet, ignited Monday afternoon in the old Bonita Reservoir in Irvine, said Michle Palmer, communications supervisor for the Orange County Fire Department. No one was reported injured and the cause of the fire remained under investigation.

The fire started shortly after 2 p.m. in rugged country near Ford Road and Bonita Canyon Drive, Palmer said. It took 40 firefighters about an hour to control the blaze, she said.

The biggest fire elsewhere burned about 20,000 acres of rugged brushland near the community of Piru, about 20 miles west of Newhall at the Ventura-Los Angeles county line.

That fire, blamed on lightning as thunderstorms moved through earlier in the weekend, had consumed 7,000 acres by Monday even as fire crews managed to prevent it from reaching about 30 homes, officials said.

Homes Out of Danger

Residents, alerted for a possible evacuation Sunday, were believed to be out of danger by noon Monday, as hundreds of firefighters from Ventura and Los Angeles counties brought about half the fire into containment, said Los Angeles County Fire Inspector John Lenihan. Authorities expected to encircle the blaze by noon today and bring it fully under control late tonight, he said.

Two firefighters--both inmates in state work camps--were hospitalized during the fire, one from heat exhaustion and one after being hit by a falling rock, Lenihan said. Both were reported in good condition at a Newhall hospital.

Meanwhile, a fire that had burned 3,900 acres in remote parts of the Simi Valley was reported 75% contained and firefighters were expecting full containment by nightfall Monday, officials said.

About 30 homes that had been threatened in the Indian Wells housing tract were no longer considered in jeopardy after firemen battled the heat and terrain to save them, said Ventura County fire spokesman Colleen Bruns.

“We had about 500 people fighting it,” Bruns said of the fire. “They put up a real good fight.”

Trouble Elsewhere

Riverside County firefighters were having less success battling two major fires that burned at Lakeland Village, on the outskirts of Lake Elsinore, and at Juniper Flats midway between Perris and Homeland in the southeast part of the county.

The Lakeland Village blaze, blamed on an illegal campfire, threatened as many as 250 homes and forced the evacuation of some residents late Monday to Lake Elsinore High School, authorities said.

The 600-acre fire caused about $153,000 in property damage to three houses and a van, fire spokeswomen Joanne Evans of the California Division of Forestry said. The blaze forced closure of the Ortega Highway at its eastern end, which was expected to remain closed until sometime this morning.

More than 355 firefighters fought the fire, which was reported about 30% per cent contained at nightfall.

The blaze at Juniper Flats, which firemen believed was contained early Monday, broke through fire lines shortly after noon and consumed an additional 200 acres, bringing the total for that blaze to 4,800, she said. More than 300 firefighters were hoping to mop up that blaze before the end of the holiday weekend.

The fire destroyed two houses, one of which was occupied, two mobile homes, two garages, 10 outbuildings, two travel trailers, a tractor and farm equipment for an estimated loss of $163,000, Evans said.

Smaller fires--fueled by heat and light winds--caused problems even in unexpected areas. At Raging Waters in San Dimas, a parked car caught fire Monday afternoon, spreading to brush and other vehicles as Los Angeles County fire crews rushed to the scene, Lenihan said.

The splashy theme park, which boasts a dozen water slides and 5 million gallons of wet fun, did not have a hydrant or other water available to extinguish the blaze in one of its remote satellite parking lots, fire spokesmen said. A fire engine with 400 gallons of water arrived and battled vainly to save eight cars destroyed by the blaze, and a second fire unit, carrying 3,000 gallons, was dispatched to try to prevent the further loss of more than 400 cars in an adjoining lot, officials said.

In Devore in San Bernardino County, fire forced evacuation of a nudist colony, the Tree House Fun Ranch. The fire, which started in vegetation near the camp, burned over three acres, destroying a residence, seven outbuildings and four vehicles and damaging two mobile homes, officials said.