20 Acres Charred in La Habra Hills by the First Fire of Volatile Season

In the first blaze of this year’s fire season, flames charred 20 acres of hillside in La Habra on Wednesday afternoon, briefly threatening homes and a school.

Firefighters contained the fire within two hours and reported no injuries or damage to structures.

Officials are still investigating the blaze, which was reported by residents who smelled smoke and saw flames. Brea and Orange County firefighters were dispatched at 1:41 p.m. They were joined by personnel from the Los Angeles Fire Authority and the state Department of Forestry Department.

Though such fires are not uncommon at this time of year, conditions are particularly volatile this summer, said Capt. Scott Brown of the Orange County Fire Authority.

Wednesday’s blaze “underscores the fact that we are in fire season,” he said. “Because of the heavy rains this winter, we have a bumper crop of grass that tends to dry out. As summer progresses, the grass is only going to get drier.”

The flames began at the base of a hill just off Carbon Canyon Road and spread quickly toward Valencia Avenue, Carbon Canyon Park and Chino Hills.

Firefighters’ first concern was to keep the blaze from nearby Olinda Village and Holly Vale Mobile Home Estates.

“It was coming down the hill, and it almost looked like it was going to take the hill completely,” said Norma Rose, manager of the mobile home park. “You could hear the fire, the crackling, and there was heavy smoke. My clothes still smell like smoke because I was out here while it was going on.”

Residents of the rural canyon area seemed to take the threat in stride, though.

“It you live in this place, you pay. It comes with the territory,” said Sherrill Clevenger, an Olinda Hills resident and principal of Olinda Elementary School on Lilac Lane. She spotted the fire from campus as she was catching up on paperwork for next semester.

“I’ve lived here a long time, and we get used to the fact that sometimes the flames are going to be big in the summer,” she said.

Though there was no official evacuation of the area, Clevenger and some of her colleagues decided to leave.

“As soon as we could see the flames over the ridge, we knew it was time to go. It got pretty bad,” said Clevenger, gesturing toward a blackened hillside behind the school. “We saw the smoke in the center of the ridge, and the first flames were at the very top. You could see them on their way down.”

Three water-dropping helicopters and more than 100 fire personnel contained the blaze by 3:35 p.m., officials said.