Controlled Burn Could Have Cut Off Fire Power

As firefighters Wednesday contained a blaze that burned 5,330 acres, authorities said they were forced in May to postpone a controlled burn here that could have made the fire that seared through the rugged canyons and mountainsides easier to handle.

The Orange County Fire Authority had planned to burn 880 acres of brush in what became the center of the Baker Canyon fire, but hot, dry weather forced it to cancel. Officials had hoped to try again earlier this month but were waiting for the first fall rain to create the right conditions.

“Had we been able to do a controlled burn in this area, we wouldn’t have had the big problem we had,” said David Bautista, fire behavior specialist for the Fire Authority.

Events, however, conspired against firefighters, who feared their efforts at prevention could have made things worse.

“You don’t want it to get out of control,” said Herb Jewell, chief of the wildland fire defense section of the Orange County Fire Authority. “If it’s too dry outside or it’s too hot or it’s too windy, those things all allow it to potentially not become a controlled fire.”

By Wednesday evening, firefighters had surrounded the blaze and were confident enough to send all but a 27-person skeleton crew home to rest overnight. The remaining hot spots were in wilderness areas near the Cleveland National Forest. No homes were threatened.

“There’s really no active fire burning anywhere, just a couple of hot spots,” Jewell said.

He said the estimated cost of fighting the fire so far is $1.1 million.

Only about 170 firefighters will return to the area today, Jewell said. And all are expected to be called off by Friday.

“Everybody’s out of here Friday morning at 8,” he said. “If there’s still work to be done, we’ll just come in on a nonemergency basis.”

More than 1,200 men and women battled the fire in eastern Orange County on Wednesday, as temperatures stayed above 90 degrees.

Winds in the canyons were blowing northeast from 15 to 25 miles per hour for most of the day, down from the 100-mph gusts the day before. Relative humidity in midafternoon was 12%.

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The scheduled May 5 burn in and around Baker and Black Star canyons had been nearly six months in preparation, with fire authorities and state and federal agencies awaiting the conditions California law requires before touching off the bone-dry chaparral and other brush.

But in May and October, the humidity was too low, and firefighters worried the burn could jump out of control, Jewell said.

That, combined with one of the driest years in Orange County, left the area primed for the sort of wildfire that started late Monday night, fire officials said.

There has been no measurable rainfall in the region since early February, making this the first year since 1877 it did not rain in March or April, fire officials said.

Fire Authority arson investigators had not cited anyone in connection with the fire by Wednesday night. The fire started near Black Star and Baker Canyon roads, when someone set ablaze insulated copper wiring, apparently to salvage the wire for resale, investigators said.

Investigators from the fire authority and from the California Department of Forestry examined two trailers and a dumpster on the 100-acre ranch owned by Dan Dulac, where they said the fire began, 1,600 feet above the Baker Canyon floor. The property includes a warehouse, a mobile home and trailers Dulac told investigators are used in the recycling of metal parts.

Fire Authority spokesman Scott Brown said investigators had not identified any suspects. But they said they were inspecting Dulac’s property to determine whether anyone should be cited for illegal burning or negligence.

“We’re taking a real hard look at what he’s doing up there,” Brown said. “Obviously, burning of any kind needs a permit, and we would never issue a permit for any type of activity like that, especially burning activity in a fire-prone area, and especially in days like we’ve had in the last couple of days.”

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Dulac said Wednesday arson investigators had interviewed him but that he was not told he was at fault. Dulac said he and his family had been out of town for a week and arrived home hours before the blaze broke out, after stopping at a supermarket. Dulac said he was unaware of anyone else using his property while he was away.

“I was joking with my wife that I even have the receipts from Albertsons if the arson people want to see them,” Dulac said.

Elsewhere, the county that had been covered with raining ash and a thick glaze of smoke got back to normal. Roads that had been closed by the blaze reopened at midday. The ochre haze that hung over the county lay mostly over the ocean.

Children in the eastern part of county went back to school.

In the canyons, scorched cactus plants were outlined like onyx pillars against the sky. Oak and sycamore trees were reduced to charred remnants. Sage was burned to a crisp. Only black patches remained where soft-colored brush and wildflowers used to stand. Above, buzzards and hawks circled over scorched animal carcasses.

“Look at them. They know it’s time for a barbecue,” said fire Capt. Dan Young, eyeing one group over Baker Canyon Road.

Times staff writers Deborah Schoch and Bonnie Hayes and correspondent Lisa Addison contributed to this report.