The Southland Firestorms: Week Two : Monte Nido Couple Spend a Nervous Day Watching Flames Approach

The small, secluded mountain community of Monte Nido was tested throughout the day Tuesday by fires that wound threateningly around the hills and canyons to the east. Stephanie and James Heng, who live on Maynard Drive at the eastern edge of Cold Canyon, south of the intersection of Mulholland Highway and Las Virgenes Road, shared their ordeal by telephone with The Times throughout the day Tuesday.

11:45 a.m.: The Hengs hear the order to evacuate when passing Sheriff’s Department helicopters blare instructions to the houses below.

The couple helped build their two-story beige stucco house 14 years ago and lived on the property in a mobile home while it was being erected. As they watch the smoke billow overhead, an ominous sign of the fire moving from the Topanga Canyon area toward Malibu, the Hengs vow to stay.

12:50 p.m.: The Hengs are resolute when Sheriff’s Department patrol cars begin making the rounds on the ground with evacuation instructions. “Nothing would make us leave. We’re ready for this; we have our brush cut about 150 feet out, sprinklers on the roof; we have our own well water supply,” Stephanie Heng says. “We’re just waiting.”

The Hengs start watering their deck, one of the few wooden parts of their home, and collect their dog, Heather, and cat, Lady, from their 2 1/2-acre grounds. They seal their attic vents to prevent the spread of sparks and continue to watch the sky.

2 p.m.: The flames reach the Saddle Peak Ridge well behind their home, Stephanie Heng says, but shifting winds offer some hope that the blaze will continue south, to the east of Monte Nido.

Preparations, however, continue. After their power is shut off, the Hengs bring out their portable radio and dust off a generator to power the electric water pump--should they need it.

3 p.m.: Stephanie Heng is torn between hope and worry as winds shift away and then back toward her home. She spots stray ash, an indication that gusts are again blowing toward Monte Nido, and sees a C-130 aircraft dropping fire retardant just to the east of her area.

3:30 p.m.: Firefighters with bulldozers arrive to cut a break about 200 feet east of the Heng house. “The way the fire will come,” Stephanie Heng says. Only one other home in Cold Canyon stands between the Hengs and the advancing fire.

4:30 p.m.: “It’s slowly headed this way,” James Heng says, taking a break from fixing the generator, which is not providing enough power. “It’s slowly working down toward us, but if the winds die out, it could slow up quite a bit.”

5:20 p.m.: The air is totally still as the night air begins to cool down Cold Canyon. “It looks like if the winds kick up, they’re going to make the stand right here in front of the house,” Stephanie says. “I can hear the bulldozer still making the firebreak and I can still see flames going straight up now because the wind is still.”

6:30 p.m.: Street lights do not exist on Maynard Drive, so when it’s dark, it’s dark, Stephanie says. But bright orange flames dot the ridge above the Heng home and lights from the firetrucks keep the street bright.

A firetruck waits in the driveway and about 10 firefighters are scattered about the property.

7:20 p.m.: “Things are heating up,” Stephanie Heng says in a calm voice. “I’m looking out of my bedroom window to the east and the whole hill is on fire.” The flames are still straight up, meaning a slow burn toward the Heng house, but they continue down the hill toward the house next door.

“I’m nervous, but with all the manpower around, I know the house is not going to burn,” she says. “I know that. I just want it to be over with now.”

7:25 p.m.: Firefighters light a backfire behind the neighbor’s house, and it quickly marches up the hill to meet the incoming flames. “It’s huge; it’s bigger than the real fire,” Stephanie says. “It’s bright orange-red, very high flames, a couple stories at least.” Winds are still calm.

7:55 p.m.: Firefighters light another backfire, this time behind the Heng house. Within minutes, the flames of the backfire burn low, reduced to embers in some spots. It’s unclear if the other flames are still moving toward the Heng home, but the backfires appear to be working. In the quiet air, the original blaze moves slowly.

8:35 p.m.: Although the backfire behind the neighbor’s house continues to flare, the flames behind the Heng’s home appear to have died to burning embers. “The wind is calm, the air is cool and we’re pretty confident,” Stephanie Heng says. “But the winds could come up and the embers could come flying. It’s not over yet. We’re going to just keep watching.”