Arson Blaze in Carbon Canyon Park Controlled

More than 100 firefighters battled an arson blaze Wednesday that charred 50 acres of brush in Carbon Canyon Regional Park and threatened a mobile home park before being contained.

Officials said the fire was started in the afternoon and spread quickly in the bone-dry brush. By 9 p.m., however, the fire was 80% contained and firefighters expected to have it totally contained in the early morning.

The blaze did not damage any structures or cause injuries, Orange County Fire Department Capt. Dan Young said.

“We’re looking at arson,” said Mike McCann, Orange County’s chief arson investigator. “We found a device and other information that would lead us to believe that a person using the park caused the fire.”

McCann declined to elaborate on the nature of the device.

“We’re looking to the public for any information about anyone seen walking along the horse trails at the (northeast) end of the park at about 5 p.m,” he said.

Fire crews from Orange and Los Angeles counties worked quickly to encircle the blaze, which was pushed in a southwest direction toward Carbon Canyon Dam by wind gusts up to 25 m.p.h.

In addition, firefighters had to battle chilly temperatures, which dipped to the middle and low 40s. “The cold makes it very difficult,” Young said. “It’s very miserable out there on the fire lines.”

Firefighting efforts were concentrated north of a mobile home park at Blake Tree Drive near the intersection of Rose Drive and Imperial Highway, Young said. Back fires were effectively set to neutralize the blaze as it approached the structures, he said.

A neighborhood of houses with wood-shingle roofs was also a source of some concern for fire officials, who sent two strike-force teams into the area to prevent wind-blown embers from igniting the homes.

Authorities closed Imperial Highway from Valencia Avenue to Rose Drive to all but residential traffic while the fire burned.

Although the fire was contained, Young said that it may be a harbinger of the dangers ahead in the winter months.

“Fire season isn’t over,” he warned. “Building a big fire in your fireplace is an excellent way to ignite your roof and your neighbor’s roof and the whole block.”

Fire officials warned that weather conditions today will cause a “red flag” warning as temperatures are expected to rise into the mid-80s and humidity levels drop to below 10%.

Anyone with information about the Carbon Canyon fire is requested to call the Orange County Fire Department at (714) 744-0455.