Digging for Hope Amid Ruins of Charred City : Aftermath: Laguna Beach residents say ‘life will be different for a while,’ but vow they will bounce back.

Kicking through the charred debris of what used to be his living room, Michael Orchowski uncovered a china teacup. It was perfect. “This used to be a beautiful set,” he lamented.

Orchowski’s was one of 150 homes that caught fire on Skyline Drive, a meandering roadway that cuts across a picturesque hillside overlooking downtown Laguna Beach and the Pacific Ocean.

As he clambered through the remains Thursday, he was particularly saddened by the loss of his 2,000-volume library, filled with books about late 19th-Century French Impressionists, modern art and history. He pointed to where the study used to be.

“Life will be different for a while,” Orchowski mused. “Of course, we will rebuild. I mean, what else can I do? It’s pretty much a foregone conclusion.”

Despite the worst fire in the city’s history, the eclectic citizenry in this postcard-perfect town is hopeful that Laguna Beach, a fiercely independent community somewhat accustomed to disaster, will recover. In many respects, the signs of renewal and optimism about the future were already apparent Thursday.

Except for the blackened hills and destroyed homes above and the damaged Thurston Middle School, the charming downtown and the central business district remained intact. The festival grounds--noted for the Pageant of the Masters and the Sawdust Festival--the Laguna Playhouse and the quaint Civic Center were spared.

Things moved on the governmental level. City leaders went to work to streamline the permit process for those rebuilding their homes, while state and federal officials moved to provide emergency assistance.

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By Thursday afternoon, Coast Highway was opened on the city’s south side so people could return to their homes and businesses. City officials, some of whom lost homes themselves, were out doing what they could for the city. And Cafe Zinc, the trendy midtown breakfast haunt, was open for business, selling cafe latte, granola and poached eggs. Dessert was chocolate cake.

“In a way, I’m kind of relieved, because things I had heard were burned were not burned,” said Mayor Lida Lenney. “The downtown of Laguna Beach is looking fine. . . This is going to be the same wonderful city we’ve always known.”

But by all accounts, the city has suffered severe damage that will hamper any recovery effort. Thousands of acres of backcountry and the historic greenbelt that has given Laguna Beach a distinct identity have been scarred and will remain so for several years.

The scenic hills surrounding the city’s core are blackened, and some of Laguna’s most exclusive neighborhoods were devastated by Wednesday’s fast-moving firestorm.

“The day before yesterday, this was a beautiful city,” said Ernie Schneider, Orange County’s chief administrative officer, who toured damaged neighborhoods Thursday. “It’s hard to believe that 24 hours later it could be completely destroyed. I think there is a real feeling of helplessness out there.”

The fire came at a particularly difficult time for Laguna Beach, he said, because it already faces serious financial difficulties. Demands from the fire, Schneider added, could be overwhelming for the city, which has been recovering from the mudslides caused by heavy rains last winter and spring.

As law enforcement officials and firefighters surveyed the destruction Thursday, many of Laguna Beach’s citizens gathered on a street near Main Beach. They embraced and shared stories of the disaster. They promised to hang in there.

“This is the worst thing I’ve ever seen in Laguna,” said Daisy Mae Messer, 44, as she held court in her wheelchair at Ocean Avenue and South Coast Highway. She has lived in the city for 24 years.

With her blond hair hanging in two long braids, Messer, who describes herself as “Laguna Beach’s sweetheart,” sold flowers out of a bucket. She shouted greetings to almost every passerby. Her orange cat, Sir Winston, the Sawdust Festival mascot, lurked nearby.

“Laguna is a tough little town,” Messer said. “It will get right back on its feet.”

That could take some time, however. Wednesday’s fire raged for almost 20 hours and caused so much destruction that the Laguna Beach inferno became the state’s highest priority. The latest damage reports indicate that at least 150 homes were destroyed out of 330 that caught fire. A total of 12,000 acres were blackened in and around the city.

The fire leveled entire sections of the famous El Moro Trailer Park, which has served as a rustic beachfront retreat for some of the county’s notables. More than 100 mobile homes were destroyed.

The total monetary loss has not been determined, but it is expected to run in the hundreds of millions of dollars. No type of dwelling, it seems, was spared, from scruffy mobile homes to posh mansions.

Among those who lost their houses were Laguna Beach City Manager Kenneth C. Frank, Councilman and three-time mayor Robert F. Gentry, Deputy City Manager Cindy King, and Planning Commissioner Jeff Powers, who had recently remodeled his.

“We know our city well, we love it, and we are not going to leave because of some sick person setting fire to an area that damaged substantial parts of our city,” said Gentry, who complained he could not gain entry to the town and checked into the Dana Point Resort. “There’s a lot of anxiety here, there’s a lot of grief, but there’s a tremendous amount of hope.”

Public safety agency officials estimate that as many as 24,000 people evacuated the city and its surrounding residential areas. Laguna Beach alone has about 23,000 residents, many of whom crammed onto Coast Highway on Wednesday night for the tedious exodus.

One of the hardest-hit areas was the exclusive enclave of Emerald Bay, a gated community of about 500 plush oceanfront homes on the northwest side of town off Coast Highway. More than 60 homes were either damaged or destroyed when a two-mile wall of fast-moving flames descended upon the community.

There, developer Dan Olmstead, 61, spent the night watering his roof. On Thursday, he spoke like only a builder could.

“We had a great 20 years (of building boom) and now it’s over,” he mused. Looking down the street at the scorched remains of his neighbors’ homes, Olmstead reconsidered. “And it looks like (the boom’s) going to start again.”

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The Mystic Lane-Skyline Drive section in the scenic hills above downtown was also devastated after the fire jumped Laguna Canyon Road and quickly spread in the foliage-rich hills. It was the same area that suffered extensive damage in the spring mudslides. Police estimate that the fire damaged 150 homes there and came within 20 yards of the civic center complex, which had just undergone a $4-million renovation.

“We are going to rebuild. Absolutely rebuild. No question,” said one displaced homeowner on Skyline Drive, who stood Thursday morning on his front doorstep that led nowhere.

In the surrounding backcountry, thousands of acres were overrun by flames. Substantial acreage burned in cherished Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, including a 2,000-acre parcel purchased for $78 million from the Irvine Co. to help complete the Laguna Greenbelt, the vast undeveloped tract that encircles the city.

At Crystal Cove State Park along the coast, 2,400 to 2,800 acres were blackened, representing about 80% to 90% of its open space. El Moro Canyon, a frequented hiking spot, was part of the toll.

In addition to the Crystal Cove acreage, about 6,000 acres of the Irvine Co.’s recently dedicated nature reserve was torched. It opened a few months ago with much fanfare.

Up Laguna Canyon Road, the fire nicked Laguna Lumber and went on to burn about 20 homes in Canyon Acres.

“It did not burn the business community. The disaster was contained in the residential area,” said Jan Jurcisin, office manager of the Laguna Beach Chamber of Commerce. “We lucked out.”

Throughout the city Thursday, public officials were mobilizing. Laguna School Board member Tim Carlyle began his effort the night of the fire, sneaking away from his home to assess damage to schools once he was assured his home and family were safe.

Weaving past emergency vehicles, gutted and flaming homes and downed trees, Carlyle made his way to the campuses to compile a damage report for a meeting held early Thursday morning with the superintendent of schools.

Only one site, Thurston Middle School, was damaged, but the losses were heavy--14 of 26 classrooms that served about 540 students were destroyed.

At City Hall, council members held a special meeting to declare a local state of emergency, to thank those who had helped battle the blaze and to direct the city manager to cut through the red tape and expedite the building permit process. At the same time, building inspection teams were scouring the hillsides to examine individual properties and access overall damage.

“This is unbelievable,” said Councilwoman Ann Christoph. “It just shows you that you don’t have control.”

City officials, however, were heartened Thursday afternoon by President Clinton’s decision to declare Southern California a disaster area and dispatch two senior officials to Los Angeles to begin coordinating federal relief efforts. The declaration will open the way for federal funds to help with immediate problems and the recovery process.

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Gov. Pete Wilson announced his appeal to Clinton on Thursday morning during a news conference at Main Beach just before he took a tour of the damaged areas. On Wednesday, Wilson proclaimed a state of emergency for five Southern California counties, qualifying them for state assistance.

“Hundreds of families have lost their homes and thousands of others have been forced to evacuate,” Wilson said. “I want to assure them and everyone else that we will do everything possible to assist them in rebuilding.”

Frank, the city manager, attempted to direct the day’s activities, trying to make sure all City Council members had seats on tour buses to take members of the Board of Supervisors, Wilson and other officials up the ravaged hillside. King, the deputy city manager, was trying to work with emergency personnel.

“They all seem to be going about city business and not giving much thought to their own plight,” said Deputy City Clerk Roe Allen. “I don’t know if reality will set in later for these people, but this is a close-knit community and people look out for each other.”

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Times staff writer Jodi Wilgoren and correspondents Willson Cummer, Martin Miller, Leslie Earnest and Geoff Boucher contributed to this report.