Scouring the Rubble for Memories

As firefighters made significant progress Wednesday in the Reche Canyon fire that destroyed four homes in Riverside County, families scoured through burned rubble desperately and fruitlessly searching for belongings and treasured mementos.

“Nothing; there’s not one thing,” said Kim Peterson, as she inspected the charred remains of her father’s canyon-top trailer in the hills south of Loma Linda.

Her father, Gardener Craedle, tried to fight the flames Tuesday night; he remained hospitalized with second-degree burns. On Wednesday, Peterson said the search was especially painful because the remains of her mother, which had been inside the trailer, were gone.

“We came up here as fast as we could, looking for the ashes, but they were in a box, and there’s just nothing left,” Peterson said. “The only thing to take some comfort in is that Mom always wanted to stay on this hill. Mom loved this hill, and her and Dad loved this view, especially at night.”

Southern California firefighters also spent Wednesday battling blazes near Fontana, at Camp Pendleton and west of Santa Clarita on a day when high temperatures and low humidity made the task difficult.

The Santa Clarita-area wildfire scorched 10 acres at San Martinez Grande Canyon Road and California Highway 126 late Tuesday afternoon as winds of 5 mph to 10 mph thwarted attempts to contain the blaze.

Robin Renteria, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service in San Bernardino, said the mountain fire above Fontana had charred 2,443 acres of heavy brush and grass and remained out of control, although containment was expected by Oct. 30. Cause of the fire remains under investigation. No homes have been threatened.

Fire officials across the region also are concerned that hot Santa Ana winds, which are expected to kick up this weekend, could make any existing or new fire difficult to contain.

Arson is blamed in the Reche Canyon fire, which began about 4 p.m. on Tuesday and burned 2,360 acres, including two homes, a mobile home and Craedle’s trailer. The fire caused about $2 million in property damage, but it had been about 40% contained by Wednesday evening and was expected to be fully contained by 8 a.m. Friday.

Jim Engel, a Riverside County arson investigator, said authorities have received several tips, including license plate numbers and descriptions of suspicious vehicles in the area. He said the evidence shows that the arsonist picked a spot to “set a fire that would go places.” Engel would not reveal what device was used to start the fire.

“Any time you’re dealing with steep terrain, poor clearances around secluded homes and high winds, you’re going to have a difficult time,” said Dorian Cooley, a Riverside County fire battalion chief.

Guy Lagarde’s 17-year-old deluxe, triple-wide mobile home and his 3,000-square-foot garage/automobile shop were destroyed when “the wind pushed this wall of fire right on me,” he said. Firefighters on Tuesday night tried to save Lagarde’s home, which sits in front of a steep slope, but were overcome by the flames.

The brush fire at Camp Pendleton in northern San Diego County spread to more than 2,200 acres, and several hundred residents of the rural De Luz area off-base were ordered to evacuate by the Sheriff’s Department. The Red Cross set up an evacuation center at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in Fallbrook. By nightfall, however, no structures had been burned.

More than 900 firefighters and a dozen aircraft battled the blaze, which broke out Tuesday during a live-fire ordnance training session. The fire was reported 5% contained Wednesday evening.

The Santa Clarita-area fire was spotted about 4:10 p.m., according to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, and firefighters attacked it with two water-dropping airplanes and three helicopters. The blaze was contained at nightfall.

Times staff writers Monte Morin and Tony Perry contributed to this report.