Winds Don’t Hinder Fire Fight

Orange County’s first major brush fire of the season scorched about 500 acres, rolling overnight through a hilly, remote area north of San Clemente before it was largely contained Tuesday afternoon.

Firefighters relied on water-dropping aircraft and hand crews forced to navigate steep slopes to battle flames fed by dry vegetation that had not burned in 30 years, Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Paul D. Hunter said.

Hunter said moderate winds changed direction several times but that did not hamper fire crews’ ability to battle the blaze, which broke out about 2 p.m. Monday on property leased by defense contractor TRW Inc.

“We hit it hard, fast and aggressively,” said Hunter, explaining how firefighters from various local, state, and federal agencies controlled the fire. “Even though we didn’t have a wind-driven fire . . . hot weather and vegetation made it prime for burning.”

By noon Tuesday, fire officials had declared the fire 80% contained and 50% controlled. One firefighter was airlifted to a local hospital for treatment of a head injury and five others were treated at the scene for wasp stings. No structures were damaged in the blaze, whose cause remained under investigation. Full control was expected sometime today.

TRW’s lone firefighter and nine volunteers began fighting the blaze before calling Orange County fire officials, TRW spokesman A. Brooks McKinney said. Flames spread quickly, however, to Rancho Mission Viejo land north of the defense contractor’s site.

Most of the fire burned on both sides of Blind Canyon, which is flanked by hills that rise from 600 to 900 feet, fire officials said. Two primitive truck trails run through the fire area, but were considered too dangerous for use by traditional firefighting equipment.

“It could only be fought with aircraft and hand crews,” Hunter said.

A topography map shows an intermittent stream that flows at the bottom of Blind Canyon, but it is dry this time of year.

Helicopters dipped water containers into small reservoirs located atop some hills on Rancho Mission Viejo property to help douse the flames, while hand crews assisted by bulldozers built a fire break to keep flames from leaping into La Paz and Gabino canyons.

The remote canyons are teeming with wildlife, including deer, coyotes, foxes and red tail hawks. On Tuesday, coyotes strolled near the command post established by fire crews while deer lounged under shady trees nearby. Hunter said no animals were believed to have perished in the fire.

But a California Department of Forestry firefighter was injured on the fire line Tuesday when a chain saw he was using kicked up a rock that hit him in the head, Hunter said.

The injured firefighter, part of a crew comprising prison inmates, lost consciousness briefly and was airlifted to Mission Hospital Regional Medical Center for observation. Officials declined to identify the 39-year-old man.

Hospital spokeswoman Karen Prestia was unable to provide further information about the firefighter’s condition.

Officials said that 280 firefighters battled the fire, and that humid air helped to minimize its spread.