Small Laguna Canyon blaze puts city on greater alert for illegal campfires

The city of Laguna Beach is stepping up patrols in Laguna Canyon after a fire in a storm drain near the dog park sparked fears that embers from similar campsites could lead to a larger blaze.

Officers will monitor areas along Laguna Canyon Creek while the city works with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department on possible helicopter flyovers to identify campfires that are otherwise difficult to spot, Laguna Police Chief Laura Farinella said.

The moves come two weeks after a fire that authorities say a group of homeless people started to keep warm.

Resident R. Nichols said he saw smoke coming from the drain about 2:50 p.m. Oct. 24.

Firefighters tending to a medical aid case at the nearby Alternative Sleeping Location, the city’s overnight emergency shelter, hurried over to contain the blaze to a 5-by-5-foot area inside the county-owned drain, Fire Chief Jeff LaTendresse said. No one was hurt and no witnesses or suspects were identified.

Crews found evidence of fires in several other spots near the drain, along with personal belongings and lighters, according to the fire department’s report.

LaTendresse said he is not aware of an increase in campsites in Laguna, but the latest fire “is not an isolated instance” and more could be on the way as colder nights arrive.

“A concern is the change in weather we started to feel [last week],” LaTendresse said. “Before that you didn’t need a fire to stay warm.”

Nichols has vivid memories of the 1993 fire that began in Laguna Coast Wilderness Park and burned more than 14,000 acres.

“This is a catastrophic disaster waiting to happen,” Nichols wrote in an email. “We cannot allow our township to burn down again. It should be mandatory that no cigarette smoking and fires be in Laguna Canyon.”

Campsites also have been found in open space surrounding Laguna.

In early October a hiker alerted OC Parks officials to an abandoned encampment near the Canyon Trail in the James Dilley Preserve area of Laguna Coast Wilderness Park. A county maintenance worker spotted another encampment on the hill above the Irvine Bowl last week, Supervising Park Ranger Barbara Norton said.

The campsite contained cooking utensils, including a frying pan, dirty clothes and trash tucked inside a bag. Park rangers cleared and restored the area, then monitored the space for return visitors.

Encampments are not uncommon, but this area of the Dilley Preserve was unusual, Norton said.

“The majority of the homeless encampments we find at Laguna Coast Wilderness Park are within a couple hundred yards of Laguna Canyon Road,” she said. “The ones we find at Aliso and Wood Canyons [Regional] Park are primarily near the Aliso Creek bike trail.”

It is illegal to build a campsite and/or start a fire in county wilderness areas outside dedicated campgrounds.

Fines begin at $50 for a first violation and increase to $500 for multiple offenses.

OC Parks officials, at their discretion, can evict people for 30 days to a year depending on the type of violation. Rangers typically tag a campsite if it looks inhabited and give people time to leave before levying a fine.

Norton said they haven’t fined anyone for these types of offenses in “quite awhile because we rarely find anyone residing in the campsites. Most are abandoned.”

Norton noted the city owns portions of land within Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, and its rules would apply in those areas.

Laguna officers could arrest someone on suspicion of arson if police believe a person is trying to start a fire, Farinella said.

Councilwoman Toni Iseman has repeatedly expressed concern about people littering parks with cigarette butts, some of which still might be lighted.

“We must not allow the encampments to exist,” Iseman wrote in an email. “The danger is evident.”

The city’s overnight shelter has room for 45 people to sleep each night. For those who cannot or choose not to secure a spot, the Friendship Shelter gives bus passes in hopes recipients will find a shelter in another city.

The Friendship Shelter staffs the Alternative Sleeping Location and provides temporary housing for 32 men and women at a South Coast Highway facility.