Fire that threatened hundreds of Laguna Beach homes sparked by teen setting fireworks, police say

Fireworks are the suspected cause of a brush fire that ignited in a hilly area of Laguna Beach on Monday afternoon, prompting evacuation orders for a few hundred homes before crews got the flames under control, officials said.

Officials on Tuesday arrested a 13-year-old boy after video footage captured the teen setting off a firework in the area where the Rancho fire ignited, then running from the scene, according to the Laguna Beach Police Department. The boy was not publicly identified, but officials said he was booked on a charge of reckless burning of forest land before being released into his parents’ custody.

The Rancho fire started around 2 p.m. near Rancho Laguna Road and Morningside Drive, according to the Laguna Beach Fire Department. Fire crews halted forward progress of the blaze by 5 p.m. Monday, at which time the fire was estimated to be four to five acres, according to department spokesperson Chip Gilmore.

Evacuation orders were initially issued for La Mirada Street, Katella Street, Summit Drive and Baja Street, and a temporary evacuation center was opened at the Community and Susi Q Center, at 380 3rd St.

The rush to evacuate the area led to major roads across Laguna Beach being clogged with traffic. A stretch of South Coast Highway between Broadway Street and Crown Valley Parkway was closed because of the fire, and traffic heading south was diverted to Laguna Canyon Road, according to the city.

But by Monday evening, evacuation orders were lifted. Gilmore said crews remained at the scene overnight defending properties from potential flare-ups and bolstering containment lines.

Investigators were able to link the 13-year-old to the fire after several people reported seeing a teenager in the area where the fire started, possibly setting off fireworks, the police department said in a statement. Detectives were later able to review a video that officials said showed “clearly ... a juvenile suspect lighting a firework and fleeing the scene.”

That video helped lead the investigators to the teen.

There were no reported injuries or homes damaged from the blaze, officials said.

Laguna Beach Police Chief Jeff Calvert thanked the community for their cooperation in the investigation.

“This case is a perfect example of what makes Laguna Beach unique — an engaged community that works hand in hand with its police department. When our residents speak up, we’re able to respond quickly and effectively. Public safety is a shared responsibility, and this outcome reflects that.”

City Manager Dave Kiff attributed the early success of firefighting efforts to the rapid response of mutual aid partners such as the Orange County Fire Authority and to wildfire safety improvements implemented by the city.

The Fire Department had recently thinned vegetation in the area where the fire ignited in an effort to limit the amount of available fuel for a potential wildfire, Laguna Beach Mayor Alex Rounaghi said. This proactive thinning is regularly completed in the city’s designated fuel modification zones.

In addition, the city has installed a special water tank in the hills where the Rancho fire is burning, Kiff said. The tank is connected to a high-pressure water line so that it can be refilled rapidly, thereby increasing the rate at which firefighting aircraft can perform water drops.

Over the last several years, the city has spent more than $25 million enacting a fire mitigation plan approved in 2019, Rounaghi said. The city recently updated that plan in the wake of the devastating Palisades and Eaton fires and is working on additional fire safety improvements.

“We know it’s not a question of if but when the next wildfire happens, and certainly today is a perfect example of that,” Rounaghi said. “So we go above and beyond in terms of preparedness.”

The Rancho fire is the latest in a series of blazes believed to be connected to fireworks.

Seven workers were killed after a fireworks warehouse exploded last week in Esparto, a rural area 30 miles northwest of Sacramento.

On Thursday, one person was killed and multiple people injured in a fireworks-related fire that engulfed four homes in Pacoima, and another person was killed in a fireworks explosion at a Simi Valley home.

Times staff writer Grace Toohey contributed to this article.