Fires Fade, Area Turns to Recovery : Inferno: Most blazes are reported under control and Laguna Beach conflagration is declared extinguished. Hillside seeding will begin in effort to ward off flooding.

By JAMES RAINEY

Nov. 1, 1993 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

With the worst wildfires in recent history quickly burning into memory, Southern Californians turned Sunday toward a long and daunting recovery--seeking spiritual balm in their churches, preparing for the seeding of hillsides in an effort to ward off flooding and even finding time to celebrate Halloween.

Most of the 14 fires that had burned across six counties during the last week were totally under control Sunday or on the verge of being encircled by firefighters, with no homes remaining in immediate danger.

The Laguna Beach fire, the most devastating of all the blazes, was extinguished Sunday evening. “All fire, all hot spots are controlled and out” as of 6 p.m., said Kathleen Cha, an Orange County Fire Department spokeswoman.

She said at least 10 fire engines would patrol the burned areas throughout the night as a precaution. Firefighters spent much of the day monitoring hot spots that could arise from the thick, ashy remains of gutted homes.

Fire officials predicted complete containment of all Southern California blazes by today or Tuesday.

More than 173,000 acres and 731 structures burned over the past week, causing at least $500 million in damage. Paul Flores of the California Office of Emergency Services called the dollar damage figure “very preliminary. . . . We expect it to go up.”

Forecasters had earlier predicted a return of dry Santa Ana winds by early this week--an ominous condition in the still tinder-dry canyons and foothills. But even that threat appeared to be waning Sunday as meteorologists said the gusts are not likely to be as strong as those that produced explosive fire conditions last week.

“Basically, we’re in a downswing and the general feeling is that we’ve finally conquered it,” said Ventura County fire spokesman O. J. Hunt, whose remarks were echoed throughout the fire zone.

Despite the good news, officials said they have little inclination to celebrate. Crews are expected to remain in the field for a week or more to douse embers, while experts move ahead with attempts to prevent the fires’ twin scourge--floods.

The fire in the ashen hillsides above Altadena was 95% contained Sunday after burning 5,700 acres, and a 10-member “rehabilitation team” of government biologists, engineers, hydrologists and archeologists fanned out for the second day to assess damage and plan for stabilizing the hills.

“Probably 80% of that area was a high intensity burn,” said Bill Brown, a wildlife biologist who is heading the rehabilitation team. “There is nothing left. It is also very steep. There is nothing to hold the water when it hits the hillside.”

Brown said his team will recommend a helicopter drop of grass seed over most of the fire area. “We have such a narrow window between now and the first rainfall,” he said. “We have to get some seed on the ground now. We are running against the clock in that particular area.”

It may take as long as two weeks for the seeding to begin and up to six weeks for the grass to grow roots deep enough to hold soil in place, Brown said. In the meantime, light rains will be welcome, but anything more could be trouble, he said.

“On the steeper slopes, the gravel is starting to slide downhill,” said Mike Dougherty, a Forest Service spokesman. “It is so steep that gravity is starting to move material already.”

Angeles National Forest Supervisor Michael L. Rogers said the fire is only “the tip of the iceberg. It may be that the homes we saved may be lost in the floods and debris flows. We’re facing a very threatening winter season.”

Similar rehabilitation teams will be assigned in each of the areas where more than 300 acres burned, officials said.

Erosion experts said residents should not wait for the government to begin stabilizing the hills and should begin seeding their properties and erecting barriers to keep out water and mud. In Los Angeles County, a spokeswoman for the flood control district said the agency is prepared to offer advice on how to complete the work.

The condition of the hills is of particular concern heading into a winter that could be wetter than normal.

A warm-water El Nino current off the coast is likely to increase the force of southern weather systems and produce more rain locally, said James McCutcheon, a meteorologist with WeatherData Inc., which provides forecasts for The Times.

With government agencies laying plans to rebuild the hillsides, religious leaders went to work Sunday on the fire victims’ spirits.

Religious leaders throughout the region reported church attendance markedly swelled, with many parishioners bringing donations of food and clothing.

At St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Laguna Beach, the Rev. Richard G. Schumm told the large gathering that they would hear “a service of thanksgiving like we have never had.”

“We are charged with emotion,” Schumm said. “Many people are hurting. Let’s sing out.”

At Laguna Presbyterian Church, choir member Betty Hillman reported that the loss of her house in the fire showed her the more important possessions are “the love of friends, family, and complete strangers.”

At St. Paul’s, the church’s former pastor, the Rev. Roy G. Gesch, who lost his home and all his belongings, stood up and told the crowd: “We have never seen so much love.”

Speaking for his wife, Dorothy, Gesch said: “We hit a low spot. There never has been a lower spot in our lives. But this is a time for healing, and the healing has already started.”

At Altadena’s St. Elizabeth Catholic Church, Larry and Marie Darr stood smiling in borrowed clothes as a parade of friends and fellow parishioners came up to hug them. Their home was scorched and smoke-damaged but not destroyed.

“I just have a feeling of extreme thankfulness,” Marie Darr said. “And there’s just so much love and support here.”

Earlier, Father Richard Prindle, pastor at St. Elizabeth’s, told the congregation that the fires had prompted a tremendous outpouring of community support for victims. But he asked the congregation to also remember another “victim”--the homeless man who allegedly ignited the blaze when he lit a fire to get warm.

“That homeless man in the hills was our neighbor, and he shouldn’t have had to be there,” Prindle said. “If the care and concern that came after the fires had been present all the time, maybe it would have reached that homeless man.”

About 30 members of the Worldwide Church of God in Pasadena turned out to help some of their own--the Kale family, whose home was one of six destroyed when the fires raced through their neighborhood.

“I don’t know what we would have done without the church,” Shirley Kale said as her fellow congregants sifted through the ashes of her home, uncovering small treasures that somehow escaped the blaze--her mother-in-law’s wedding ring, charred boyhood photos of her two grown sons, even her husband Jim’s birth certificate. “Having them here, the way they encourage us, it’s just a big emotional lift.”

“It’s what a church is all about,” said Jim Roberts, a church deacon. “When somebody’s having trouble, you come to their aid.”

While some found solace Sunday in spirituality, others sought release in fun. Trick-or-treaters were out before sundown in some of the burned communities, and extra police patrols were on hand to make sure the celebrations did not get out of hand. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department had doubled its staffing in the charred Kinneloa Mesa neighborhood north of Altadena.

A few curiosity-seekers, trying to fish souvenirs out of other people’s homes, were turned away, said sheriff’s Lt. Jerry Carrigan. Twenty-two deputies were stationed at lookout posts or on patrol to prevent more significant problems, Carrigan said.

Sadness and relief were mixed at the Altadena Town and Country Club’s Halloween party. Four club members lost their homes, but the 1920s-era clubhouse escaped the fires with only a singed canopy and a torn flag.

Dressed like a buccaneer, Deborah Diliberto, the club’s office manager, found the holiday “appropriate,” saying “things are supposed to be scary and frightful.”

Overhead, the nearly constant whir of helicopters reminded residents that the fire work was not entirely over.

In Ventura County, ground crews will patrol the 69,000 acres of blackened brush over the next two to three weeks, and helicopter pilots will scour the sooty mountains for wisps of smoke. Fire Department spokesman Hunt also urged residents to call the department if they spot flames or smoke.

Owners whose homes were spared found that they might have even more work to do than those who lost everything.

Hugh and Helen Sims of Pasadena’s Canyon Close Road were pulling items from the kitchen shelves, trying to see if any foodstuffs remained safely sealed from all the smoke and water. “We’ve just been sort of walking around in a daze,” Helen Sims said.

A cleaning crew at the Sims home loaded three trucks and two vans with family possessions in desperate need of cleaning, washing or steaming. “We wash everything from dishes to paper clips,” said a crew member.

Meanwhile, firefighters were heartened to learn that one of their most seriously injured comrades was getting better.

The condition of Cleveland Tipton, one of four Los Angeles city firefighters severely burned in the Chatsworth fire last week, was upgraded to good at the Sherman Oaks Hospital burn center, a spokeswoman said Sunday.

Three of his colleagues who had also sought refuge in their firetruck cab remained in critical or serious condition. All four men suffered second- and third-degree burns over up to 40% of their bodies, and they face weeks of hospitalization, surgery and skin grafts.

A hospital spokeswoman said all were “doing quite well,” considering their ordeal, and probably will undergo more surgery Tuesday.

Looking to prevent such disasters in the future, Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt suggested that westerners must slow the practice of pushing their neighborhoods into untamed rural areas.

“The lesson of these fires is we’ve got to keep the people away from the fire hazard,” Babbitt said Saturday during a short stop at a Los Angeles County fire station. “All over the West people are moving into the woods to live. Firefighting is getting more expensive, more hazardous.”

Babbitt said he learned the same lesson this year in touring the flooded Midwest.

“It suggests we have to work much more intensively with local government” to deal with the problem seriously, he said.

Contributing to this story were staff writers Larry Gordon and Jack Cheevers in Los Angeles; Stephanie Simon in Ventura County; Len Hall and Jeffrey A. Perlman in Laguna Beach, and correspondent Gordon Dillow in Altadena.

Aid to Fire Victims

* Businesses or organizations that wish to offer free services for fire victims may call The Times at (800) 234-4444 to offer assistance. Or call TimesLink at 808-8463, *8300 to leave a recorded message. The Times will publish the services at no charge.

Southland Fires: An Update

Here is the status of brush fires burning as of Sunday in the Southland. A fire is controlled when its perimeter is no longer expanding. The term containment, usually accompanied by a percentage, is used to describe how much of a fire is under control--although parts of it may still be burning.

LOS ANGELES COUNTY

Altadena/Sierra Madre

* Acres: 5,700

* Damage: 151 structures destroyed

* Status: 85% contained

ORANGE COUNTY

Laguna Beach

* Acres: 16,682

* Damage: 366 homes destroyed

* Status: Extinguished Sunday evening

Ortega

* Acres: 20,500