Edgy Residents Anxious to Curb Fire Hazards

With the image of the Lemon Heights wildfire still fresh, John Cameron rose early Tuesday and watered his front and back yards after raking up dried leaves.

Cameron’s motivation was simple: fire protection for his home.

“You want to keep the vegetation alive and looking good,” Cameron said, “as well as keeping everything wet to protect your home from fire.”

Cameron joined the throng of Orange County residents who headed to stores for fire prevention equipment and cleared dead and dried brush and other debris from their property, the day after a fire sparked by a downed power line burned or destroyed 33 buildings.

Sprinklers went on across the county to water vegetation that had become tinder dry from strong Santa Ana winds and a lack of significant rainfall in months.

Hardware store managers reported a run on fire extinguishers. Gardeners and tree trimmers said they had a rush of customers seeking brush and tree removal from their property, a safeguard encouraged by fire authorities.

“Our phones have been ringing off the hook today,” said a weary Scott Spencer, with Timberline Tree Service, a tree-trimming company in Orange. “Yesterday’s fire was a wake-up call. There’s plenty of people definitely concerned today.”

Gardener Jose Lomeli, 27, of Santa Ana spent the afternoon cutting away thick hedges, removing dried pine needles and lugging sacks of vegetation to his pickup truck from a Cowan Heights residence.

“Usually we just take care of the lawn, you know, mowing and watering,” Lomeli said. “But [the owner] told us to come out here today, and do this fast. You can see here that he doesn’t have any sprinklers on this hill and it’s really dry here.”

Other residents mapped out escape routes and practiced evacuating homes with younger family members. And they stocked up on batteries for fire detectors and flashlights.

Cameron, 72, a retired aerospace engineer, said the Lemon Heights fire reminded him of the 1967 Paseo Grande fire that struck his neighborhood, a lush, hilly section dotted by eucalyptus, palm trees and evergreens--much like the area in Lemon Heights that burned.

“We saw that one come over that hill there,” said Cameron, who has lived in the neighborhood for 30 years. “It was about 3 a.m. and I told my wife, ‘Adios, we’re leaving. Let’s get out.’ ”

The Paseo fire, also fanned by Santa Ana winds, scorched 50,000 acres and destroyed 66 homes in the Lemon Heights-Santa Ana Canyon area. The fire is believed to have been sparked by children playing with matches in western Riverside County.

Since then, Cameron and his family have spent years enjoying their scenic canyon listening to birds warble, and watching raccoons and other wildlife that forage nearby.

“It is nice here,” Cameron said, “but after the Paseo fire, it gave me a feeling of insecurity. That’s why I was out watering today.”

Cameron said that through the years, his neighbors as a precaution have replaced wood-shake roofs with fire-retardant roofing material.

Karen Beam, 39, another Cowan Heights resident, contacted a tree-trimming service to clear away downed branches and trim tall eucalyptus trees that rimmed her property.

“I want them to thin out these eucalyptus trees because I’m worried about a fire starting around here,” Beam said.

Beam, who heard about the Lemon Heights fire while listening to the radio on Monday, said she became concerned about her family’s survival skills.

With two children, ages 5 and 8, Beam intends to practice leaving the house quickly, just in case there is a fire or other crisis.

“Ironically, just today our fire detector started beeping because the battery was low. So I had to buy fresh batteries,” Beam said.

She also said she intends to buy a clock that runs on batteries, in case of a disaster or fire that knocks out electrical power. Scores of homes lost power during Monday’s fire.

“It’s been an eye-opener, that’s for sure,” she said.

Bob Gilbert, owner of B & J Tree Service in Tustin, said he spent the day filling out work orders for dozens of Tustin-area customers, including those in Lemon Heights.

“We were getting calls like the guy on Skyline Drive who said ‘I want you to take out my two ficus trees out front. If [they] catch fire, they’ll take my house,’ ” said Gilbert, who had crews removing pine trees and also oleander and cypresses.

The Orange County Fire Authority recommends that residents clear flammable vegetation within a 100-foot radius of their homes. Sloped areas in canyons should be cleared 100 feet or more. The authority also recommends pruning lower branches and dead branches to provide a 25% clear zone at the base of trees.

Businessman Braid MacDonald, 50, returned to his Cowan Heights home Monday from a trip to Chicago. Although he recently replaced his wood-shake roof with red tiles, the specter of fire is nevertheless unnerving.

“I saw the Malibu fire on television at the airport, and I got concerned,” MacDonald said. “This is Southern California and fires have always been a danger around here.”