For Too Many, Memories Are All That’s Left

Residents of this northern San Diego County community returned to the smoldering ruins of their homes Monday, poking through ashes for heirlooms lost, mementoes gone forever and precious documents destroyed.

Many spoke in dazed and tearful tones of the brutal fire that erupted suddenly Sunday morning and raced like a typhoon of flames through high brush, avocado groves and million-dollar homes. By day’s end, at least 30 homes were destroyed and hundreds of residents had been forced to flee.

“We’re homeless now,” said Alberta Parker, a retired convenience store owner. “We saw the flames and felt the wind, strong enough to blow you over.”

Fire officials say the blaze also destroyed 10 smaller structures, two fire engines and numerous private cars.

Santa Ana winds were blamed for blazes in several locations in Southern California.

Around Fallbrook, more than 4,500 acres burned.

“It was so smoky, it was hurting our eyes and throats,” said Beverly Packard, whose home on Santa Margarita Road was gutted. “Now everything is gone. Everything.”

Fire officials said Monday that the fire was 50% contained, helped by a drop in temperature and wind speed and the round-the-clock efforts of more than 700 firefighters from throughout Southern California.

No cause for the blaze has been determined, although investigators are studying whether it began in a canyon near Gavilan Mountain Road where brush was being burned.

Homeowners told harrowing tales of having only a few minutes to grab some possessions and flee the advancing flames as softball-sized embers flew through the air. They said the fire made a roaring sound, like a locomotive.

“It was pitch black [from smoke],” said Sharon Brunner, who fled with her husband and granddaughters. “There was a wall of fire on both sides of the road. A voice inside me said, ‘Just put your foot on the accelerator and go.’ ”

The Brunners rejoiced that their daughter, Kristen, picking through the ashes of their 4,000-square-foot ranch-style home, was able to locate her wedding ring. Other neighbors, on similarly frantic hunts, were not as fortunate.

“I thought I was going to die,” Mary Fogg said of the shock of seeing her burned-out home.

Fogg said she had to flee without her medicine and her husband’s Purple Heart, awarded after the World War II battle at Guadalcanal. “We put our whole life into this house,” she said.

Richard Burke was able to save his 1954 red MG sports car but was nearly trapped by the flames that consumed his house.

“I probably dillydallied too much,” he said. “But the wind shifted. Fortunately, the flames flew over my head and suddenly it was clear.”

Eight people, accompanied by three dogs, took refuge for an hour in a backyard swimming pool as the fire raged over their heads. They had been ordered into the pool by firefighters circling in a helicopter.

The group used towels to cover their faces, the only part of their bodies above the 50-degree water. They stayed in the pool until they were rescued by San Diego Sheriff’s Deputies Dan Perkins and Gary Crowley and were taken, soot-covered and trembling with cold, to Fallbrook Hospital.

“I thought hypothermia would take us before the smoke would,” said Bob Burton, a retired high school teacher. “I’ve never been so cold in my life.”

Many residents remembered that it was the sense of bucolic remove from the madding influences of Southern California that had brought them to Fallbrook--population 30,000--60 miles north of San Diego.

The Fallbrook ideal is the “gentleman farmer” with a small avocado grove and a corral for horses and other livestock. Many of the residents fled Sunday with their horses in tow.

The community’s isolation--and the winding roads and long driveways--hampered efforts by firefighters. The fast-moving fire hopped with a vicious caprice from ridge to ridge. Although brushfires are not uncommon in the county, Fallbrook had largely been spared until Sunday.

Some residents wondered why no firefighters answered their frantic calls.

“We had to buy a $4,000 fire hydrant and put in all these sprinklers and yet not a damn firetruck came down the street,” said Sue Burke.

Fire officials said that the constantly shifting winds made it impossible to surround the fire in its early stages or to get to all of the threatened homes. High winds also prohibited the use of air tankers, officials said.

If there are prototypical Fallbrook residents, it may be the Burkes. They considered moving to the Pacific Northwest when Richard retired as an aerospace engineer in the Los Angeles area.

Instead they chose Fallbrook and the spectacular view of De Luz Canyon, the same canyon that exploded in flames, destroying their home and nearly taking their lives.

“My wife wanted to live in town,” said Burke. “I wanted the country. This was a great compromise.”

Even amid tragedy, some residents tried to maintain perspective. There were no fatalities and only 11 minor injuries.

“This is nothing compared to Danielle van Dam,” the 7-year-old girl who vanished 10 days ago in San Diego, said Parker, who moved to Fallbrook from Orange County to escape smog, crowded freeways and earthquakes.

At the Fallbrook Cafe at Mission and Brandon roads, less than a mile from the heart of the fire, lunchtime patrons talked of Fallbrook residents bravely rebuilding and starting anew.

“These people were energetic and ambitious enough to afford homes out there,” said David Hadley, a Fallbrook resident of three decades. “They’re not going to pack up and go away now.”

And while there was shock, there was also acceptance that the Southern California upscale, rural lifestyle has risk attached.

“You can’t live out there in that wilderness without considering the fire danger,” said Bill Lashbrook, whose home was spared. “It’s a gamble to live in nature.”

“There are lots of burnable things here,” said Earle Cook. “But people are resilient.”

The Brunner family, which lost everything except their cat, dogs and family pictures, was already planning the future.

“We were going to start remodeling the master bedroom,” said Sharon Brunner. “Now we’ve got more of a major remodel.”

Among the homes that were damaged but not destroyed was that of singer Rita Coolidge. The Grammy winner was on tour and had just performed at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics.

Surveying the damage Monday to her home and avocado grove, Coolidge said she felt lucky compared to some of her neighbors whose homes burned to the ground.

In Orange County, Santa Ana winds diminished considerably Monday, helping firefighters battle a brushfire that swept through a wilderness area over the weekend, scorching 2,400 acres near Anaheim Hills.

The fire was about 35% contained and no longer spreading, said Kymbra Fleming, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Fire Authority. Full containment is expected by 6 p.m. Wednesday, she said.

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Times staff writers David Haldane, Tony Perry and Janet Wilson contributed to this report