As Ashes Cool, Laguna Starts Work of Recovery

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 on Skyline Drive, a meandering roadway that cuts across a picturesque hillside overlooking downtown Laguna Beach and the Pacific Ocean, that burned in the firestorm that swept through the city Wednesday. As he moved through the remains, 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 was hopeful Thursday that Laguna Beach will recover. In many respects, the signs of renewal and optimism about the future were already apparent.

Except for the blackened hills and destroyed homes above, virtually all of 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 were moving on the governmental level. City leaders went to work to streamline the permit process for those rebuilding their homes, and state and federal officials moved to provide emergency assistance.

By Thursday afternoon, Coast Highway was opened on the city’s south side to allow the public to 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 mid-town 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.

Yet, as law enforcement officials and firefighters surveyed the destruction Thursday, many Laguna Beach residents gathered in a street near Main Beach. They embraced each other 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 of 330 homes that caught fire were destroyed. More than 11,000 acres were blackened in and around the city.

At the famous El Morro Trailer Park, which has served as a rustic beachfront retreat for some of the county’s notables, the fire leveled entire sections, taking out more than 100 mobile homes.

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

Among those who lost their homes 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 house.

Public safety officials estimate that as many as 24,000 people were evacuated from Laguna Beach 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 from town.

One hard-hit area was the exclusive enclave of Emerald Bay, a gated community of about 500 homes on the northwest side of town off Coast Highway. More than 60 homes were either damaged or destroyed when a two-mile-wide wall of fast-moving flame descended into the community.

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

“We had a great 20 years (of a 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) is going to start again.”

The Mystic Lane-Skyline Drive section in the scenic hills above downtown also was devastated after the fire jumped Laguna Canyon Road and quickly spread in the fuel-rich hills. 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 a front doorstep that led nowhere.

In the surrounding backcountry, thousands of acres were overrun. Substantial acreage burned in cherished Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, a 15,000-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 on Newport Coast, 2,400 to 2,800 acres were blackened, representing about 80% to 90% of its open space, including El Morro Canyon, a much-frequented hiking spot.

In addition to Crystal Cove, about 8,500 acres of the Irvine Co.’s recently dedicated nature reserve was torched. It opened a few months ago with much fanfare.

Untouched by the inferno were many of the city’s main attractions and the central business district. Except for the dense smoke, the downtown area was mostly unaffected Thursday.

Up Laguna Canyon Road, the city’s popular festival grounds went unscathed, though the fire nicked nearby 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, leaving his home to assess damage to the city 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 with the superintendent early Thursday morning.

Only one site, Thurston Middle School, was damaged, but the losses there were fairly heavy. Smoke and smoldering beams were all that was visible of the building, which once provided the school’s primary classrooms.

City Council members held a special meeting at the still-standing City Hall to declare a local state of emergency, thank those who had helped stifle the blaze, and direct the city manager to cut through the red tape and expedite the building permit process so residents can quickly rebuild their homes. Absent from the session was Councilman Bob Gentry, who lost his home and a rental property in the fire.

At the same time, building inspection teams were scouring the hillsides to examine individual properties and assess 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 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.

Gov. Pete Wilson announced his appeal for the federal declaration to Clinton on Thursday morning during a news conference at the city’s 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.”

The city manager, whose Skyline Drive home was incinerated in the blaze, attempted to direct the day’s activities, trying to make sure all City Council members had a seat on tour buses that took members of the Board of Supervisors, the governor and other officials up the ravaged hillside. King, the deputy city manager, who also lost her home, 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.”