Fire Season Opens : Officials Close 97,000 Acres to Prevent Blazes in Combustible Chaparral

Orange County fire officials, fearing another season of brush fires, declared the annual fire season open Monday and moved to block public access to 97,000 acres of undeveloped lands where dry foliage is easily combustible.

The decision to close the areas, which are mainly in northeastern and southeastern Orange County, came on the heels of a recent spate of unseasonably hot weather that was combined with harsh Santa Ana winds.

“We have determined that conditions in the area are at a point where we could have a fire of catastrophic proportions,” said Kevin W. Turner, Wild Land Fire Defense Planner for the Orange County Fire Department. “That’s why we have opened the season.”

Turner said that with Monday’s declaration of fire season for the county, those people found within the closed sectors will be subject to both misdemeanor citations and possible jail time. All parklands within the closed area will remain open to the public, as will all roads. Property owners in the closed areas and their guests will continue to have access to the area.

While the recent hot weather and below normal rainfall has added to the potential for fire hazard, the county’s fire season has not come early this year, officials said.

“Last year we declared (the season) open almost a month earlier. We’ve had some soaking rains this year that have kept things greener than normal,” Turner said. “But, you still have to remember that we are in the middle of a drought and that from what we’ve seen out there so far, the potential for some major fires . . . exists.”

Turner said that chaparral trees, followed by various varieties of coastal sage brush and grasses, are the most worrisome for firefighters.

“Once the chaparral (dries out) and cures, it is very combustible. It produces a great deal of heat once on fire,” Turner said.

During the course of the season, both marked and unmarked patrol units will regularly comb the area looking for violators. During the height of the season--the month of August--those patrols will be doubled, officials said.

“Barring an unseasonal rainstorm, where we would get 1 to 2 inches of rain, the (fire) season will most likely last until the end of October. And, even if we were to get that much rain, we would still not likely close (the season) early,” Turner said, adding that the summer heat can quickly dry out moist brush, turning it into easily combustible fuel for a brush fire.

Turner said that there were more than 300 brush fires in the county last year.

The closed areas include brush lands north of Brea and stretches east of Yorba Linda to the Chino Hills State Park, rural and unincorporated land between the Cleveland National Forest and Anaheim Hills, Orange, Tustin, Irvine, Mission Viejo, San Juan Capistrano and San Clemente.

Other closures include brush lands south of Bonita Canyon Drive, Sand Canyon Avenue and the San Diego Freeway, through Laguna Canyon to Aliso/Wood Canyons Regional Park.