THE SOUTHLAND FIRESTORM: WEEK TWO / ORANGE COUNTY RECOVERS : Chronology of the Tragedy

The Orange County Fire Department on Tuesday released a preliminary report on last week’s devastating fires. The report offers a chronicle of how firefighters were stretched thin by the firestorms. Here is an excerpt of that chronology.

Stagecoach Fire

Oct. 26

* 11:07 p.m. The first report of a brush fire in the Anaheim Hills area is received by the Orange County Fire Department. A total of 45 firefighters are initially dispatched to the scene. That blaze would become known as the Stagecoach fire, after the main road near where the fire began.

* 11:22 p.m. Additional resources are deployed at the request of the incident commander.

* 11:34 p.m. Resources committed to the Stagecoach fire total 104 firefighters. As the fire continues to gain momentum because of winds of up to 75 m.p.h. and relative humidity of 5% to 13%, additional resources are systematically committed.

Oct. 27

* 3:45 a.m. Crest de Ville is hit by the swiftly advancing fire front. Aggressive firefighting holds the losses to two homes destroyed and 27 damaged.

During those early morning hours, the Orange County Fire Department issues a “red flag alert,” a warning of extreme fire danger. Additional strike teams are formed, some to help fight the Stagecoach fire and some to “stage” in anticipation of additional fires. A total of 506 firefighters plus support staff have been committed to the Stagecoach fire.

Laguna Fire

Oct. 27

* 11:50 a.m. The Orange County Fire Department responds to notification of a brush fire in Laguna Canyon south of Interstate 5.

* 11:56 a.m. The first Fire Department unit arrives on the scene and reports a fire involving about two acres of grass and brush and traveling at a moderate rate of speed. After six minutes, the incident commander notifies the Emergency Communications Center that the fire has grown to four to five acres and that it has the potential to be a major fire. Within another four minutes, the fire has moved into moderate to heavy brush and produced 15- to 25-foot flames.

Within 15 minutes of the Fire Department’s receiving notification of a fire in Laguna Canyon, a firefighting force of 23 personnel has assembled at the scene.

* 12:08 p.m. Concerned for threatened structures along the coast, the incident commander places a priority request for air tankers. Firefighting operations change to a defensive mode: evacuation of the public and positioning of fire apparatus to protect defendable structures. Fire officials request 90 fire engines for deployment in Laguna Beach. This request activates a mutual aid response throughout California. Resources immediately deployed from within Orange County include about 50 fire engines from Orange County Fire Department and 20 fire engines from other fire departments in the county.

* 12:28 p.m. Firefighters identify three separate fronts to the fire that is progressing toward the coast with 40- to 50-foot high flames.

* 12:36 p.m. When Laguna Beach Fire Engine 1 determines that El Morro Elementary School requires evacuation, the incident command diverts 10 fire engines to assist with evacuation efforts. Law enforcement agencies continue the evacuation of threatened areas, reducing the potential injury to the public and allowing fire apparatus into narrow, winding streets.

* 12:37 p.m. The fire engulfs 200 to 300 acres and has moved to within two to three miles of the city of Laguna Beach.

* 12:58 p.m. Air tankers are reported to be en route.

* 1:24 p.m. The Emergency Communications Center is directed to increase the number of fire engines from 90 to 125. The incident commander requests that the fire’s priority be increased for available fire apparatus because of the extreme threat to structures.

* 1:31 p.m. The fire is visible from Coast Highway. Firefighters report that homes will be lost and that the fire might reach the highway.

* 1:37 p.m. Windblown embers jump a firebreak that firefighters had previously cleared. This eliminates the defensible area between the fire and Emerald Bay homes.

* 1:40 p.m. Air tankers are in the area, ready to start the dropping of fire retardant. The effectiveness of air tankers is lost, however, due to the fire’s advance into the structures and smoke obscuring visibility. Water drops and retardant drops can only be applied to the flanks of the fire as it progresses through each canyon to the coast.

* 1:44 p.m. A firestorm is reported in Emerald Canyon.

Although fire destroyed 366 homes, firefighters saved 1,082 structures. The number of resources used: 345 engines; 17 bulldozers; 11 hand crews; 30 aircraft; and 1,968 firefighters.