Blazes Led to New Tactics in Prevention, Firefighting

Fire devoured mansions and mobile homes alike. Police blockades kept people from their homes. Tree branches popped and exploded. The heat from the flames snapped power lines. Furious Santa Ana winds whipped the fire at speeds of 80 mph, turning the dry brown canyons black as coal.

Fire season always brings a threat to Southern California in summer and fall, but the wildfires in October and November 1993 were exceptional for their force and destruction, racing through six counties from San Diego County to Ventura County. It took the work of more than 10,000 firefighters to subdue the flames.

And when they were extinguished after six harrowing days, more than 400 homes were damaged or destroyed in Laguna Beach and 27,000 residents were forced to flee. The fires also ravaged Malibu, Calabasas and Altadena, destroying or damaging nearly 400 more houses and forcing the evacuation of thousands more. All told, more than 173,000 acres of Southern California were charred, the work of arsonists in the Laguna and Malibu blazes and a homeless camper in the Altadena fire.

Many families were financially ruined. Insurance claims topped $800 million but large numbers of residents were never made whole.

During the worst of the fires, though, when families were separated and cars flooded narrow, winding streets and hearts pounded from the sheer danger of it all, what was left behind didn’t seem to matter all that much.

As they were racing to escape, homeowners took whatever scraps they could. A computer. A screenplay. Mountain bikes. Fine crystal. Artwork. Or nothing at all. One person tried to lug a giant television set into a car, gave up and left it on a street corner. Left behind were a lifetime of memories. And nobody could be sure what they would find when they returned days later.

Firefighters were stretched thin. In Altadena and Pasadena, the fires moved with alarming speed but weary firefighters held their ground and batted it down day after day. The Malibu/Calabasas fire saw a startling breakdown in communication and poor coordination among firefighters, some of whom were working with poor radio communications and outdated maps. But that, too, was quelled in six days.

Although the hot spots struck randomly throughout Southern California’s driest areas, Laguna Beach was among the hardest hit. The picturesque seaside community, which prides itself on being different from the rest of Southern California, watched helplessly as waves of flames came dashing over the overgrown canyons of grass and chaparral.

Home at one time or another to a number of celebrities such as Ozzie and Harriet Nelson, Mickey Rooney and Buzz Aldrin, Laguna Beach put up a brave front. Neighbors pulled together to provide shelter. Donations poured in. Churches and synagogues helped nourish the spirit as attendance swelled.

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But there was plenty of blame to go around too. Laguna’s City Council was criticized for not building a hilltop reservoir quickly enough. Two Marine helicopters needed to ferry water sat on the ground during the fire because of an apparent miscommunication. And although there was water to fight the fires, Laguna’s system of moving it through the city failed miserably.

Six years later, Laguna Beach is still not fully back to normal. Not all of the homes that were burned have been fully rebuilt and nobody who lived through the firestorms can say they were not changed in some way. But some tangible changes emerged: the city’s building codes have been upgraded and homes now require fire-resistant building materials. Residents who don’t clear vegetation from around houses face stiff fines. One new water reservoir is in place and another is planned. The city even contracts with goatherds year-round to keep a citywide firebreak intact.

And knowing that the risk of fire is not limited to Laguna, Orange County has also taken the threat seriously, buying two helicopters that can drop water over blazes and hiring an in-house fire weather forecaster. Countywide building codes have been strengthened to guard against fire, fireproof zones have been established and streets have been widened to accommodate firetrucks.

In Los Angeles County, improved firefighting tactics combined with residents diligently clearing brush from their homes helped make sure that severe Malibu fires three years later didn’t do the same type of damage.

Living here brings with it those days when the Santa Anas blow warm and not quite right for a season when it should feel crisp and cool. And no matter how small or inconsequential a brush fire turns out to be at any time of the year, the familiar stench of smoke is enough to bring anybody who lived here back to the fall of 1993.