Training, Timing, History Key to Firefighters’ Success

The dry weather and gusty winds were a recipe for disaster. But firefighters on Tuesday were able to keep the Baker Canyon fire from burning into residential areas along the base of the Santa Ana Mountains.

Firefighters attributed their success to a combination of history, fortuitous timing and lessons learned from the devastating 1993 Laguna Beach firestorm.

In the four years since wind-driven fires ravaged Laguna Beach, fire departments have devoted more training time to fighting rural wildfires, acquired vital equipment such as water-dropping helicopters for fires in inaccessible areas, and strengthened brush-clearing operations--all of which appear to have helped avert a larger disaster.

Tuesday’s fire, which consumed more than 5,200 acres around Baker Canyon and destroyed one house and one outbuilding, followed a path remarkably similar to a 1967 fire known as the Paseo Grande blaze.

The Oct. 29, 1967, wildfire blackened 48,000 acres, burned more than 60 homes and was considered Orange County’s worst blaze--until the Laguna fire, which destroyed or damaged more than 400 homes.

Firefighters battling Tuesday’s fire studied the pattern of the Paseo Grande blaze to help determine where the flames might leap.

“We know the footprint of that previous fire [and] what it did was give us a historical perspective of what we could expect,” said Capt. Scott Brown of the Orange County Fire Authority.

Laguna Beach Fire Chief William Edmundson said that knowing the fire history of a rugged area like Baker Canyon is a major benefit in trying to predict a fire’s ultimate path.

“History does repeat itself,” he said.

Firefighters also benefited from timing. With no other major fires burning in California, Orange County received massive support from departments across the state. Nearly 700 fire personnel battled the blaze.

“A key difference with this fire is the ability to overwhelm it with resources,” Edmundson added.

In 1993, local officials had trouble getting immediate help to Laguna Beach because the wildfire was one of half a dozen burning around the state.

Firefighters battling the Baker Canyon fire had help from more than a dozen aircraft equipped to dump water on wildfires. Air support proved a problem during the Laguna blaze because the Orange County Fire Authority’s two planes were out of service. In the aftermath of the 1993 fire, the county allocated money to overhaul the planes.