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The Trabuco Canyon Airport Fire
This fire was touched off yesterday from sparks when an Orange County Public Works crew were using heavy equipment to move large boulders. Efforts to put out the flare-up failed, and the fire quickly began to consume hundreds of acres along the hillsides of the Trabuco Canyon area near the City of Rancho Santa Margarita. At about 5 pm yesterday (Monday), the fire had consumed about 700 acres. By this morning the fire had consumed some 9,300 acres and is still 0% contained.
The prevailing winds have, for the most part, moved the fire to the east and southwest toward the Cleveland National Forest, but today the winds have died down considerably, and the fire also moved slightly westward and up the slope of Saddleback Mountain. Saddleback is now completely enveloped in smoke. The other side of the fire is quite close to the border of Coto de Caza, a sprawling gated community with multimillion-dollar homes.
It’s called the Airport Fire because there is a small airstrip near where the fire started for remote-controlled airplane enthusiasts. Some neighborhoods on the eastern side of the city of Rancho Santa Margarita have been ordered to evacuate as fire trucks have been stationed on streets and in cul-de-sacs. As of this writing, no structures have been lost.
My home is roughly 4 miles from the fire as the crow flies. Most of the homes in this area have Spanish-style clay tile roofs that hopefully minimize the potential of flying embers to start additional flare-ups, but there is, of course, a great deal of vegetation throughout each housing tract that could easily burn. Helicopters flew all night last night, and jets carrying fire retardant flew until the sun went down yesterday and were in the air again this morning at sunrise. Schools in the area, including the Catholic Santa Margarita High School, have closed for today.
As I write this, the temperature is 90° F. Even as the wind is relatively mild, large fires have a tendency to create their own wind and weather. It’s very likely that this fire will continue to burn for a few more days even as the temperature cools. There is a likelihood that the Ortega Highway which connects the communities in and around Temecula to the coast near San Juan Capistrano, will be shut down for the next few days so fire crews can attempt to contain the fire’s spread as it rages through the Cleveland National Forest.
Hopefully, homes will be spared and everyone is hoping that the Santa Ana winds don’t materialize and blow southward from the high desert, which could turn the fire back on Rancho Santa Margarita and Mission Viejo. Rain would be nice but there doesn’t seem to be any in the forecast.
We don’t get hurricanes in California, but we occasionally get torrential rains, mudslides, fires, and oh, yes…earthquakes. Most of the time, it’s quite pleasant, especially if one is able to compartmentalize the idiocy coming out of Sacramento and the governor’s office.
UPDATE TUESDAY EVENING: The fire has more than doubled in size having burned some 19,028 acres and is now working its way down the foothills around the Lake Elsinore community.
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I know those sections of CA very well, Brian; they seem to periodically be in the line of fire. I hope you and your son will be safe. Keep us posted.
Thanks. We’re far enough away from the fire and shouldn’t have to worry…unless the Santa Anas pick up.
One thing about hurricanes – they douse wildfires.
Taken moments ago (at about 1:35PM):
By the way, the Public Works crew that sparked the fire were moving the boulders with their heavy equipment to create a firebreak between the road and the brush on the hillside. Feel free to facepalm.
This has vexed me since I read your post, but I think I have it. They were creating sparks by contact between the road and whatever implement they were using. That’s still a weird way to start a fire.
From an MyNewsLA.com:
Prayers man.
Maybe somebody knows but I don’t understand why high temperatures make fire more likely.
Google just goes on and on about climate change when I try to find out an answer there.
Generally because there is a lack of moisture in the air (more prevalent on the west coast than the east coast which tends to be more humid during the summer months), a bit of wind, and vegetation on hillsides including grasses and shrubs that haven’t had rain in a long period of time – creates the condition where a spark or a small flame can quickly explode into a larger conflagration.
Ah OK.
It’s so alien here in the South. We have wild fires for sure, but they just don’t go on and on.
They don’t on the Texas Gulf Coast either, but in West or North Texas? After a long drought, Katy bar the door.
A seized bearing can heat up very quickly. If the ambient temperature is already high, it heats up a little faster. The flashpoint for oil-based hydraulic fluids is usually between 450° and 500° F. If some of the fluid leaked out and came into contact with something hot enough, it could catch fire. I’m still trying to imagine where …
Never mind me. Just a nerd.
Here is a picture taken earlier today from Green Peak in the Santa Monica Mountains. This is looking east with Westwood in the foreground and downtown LA further on. The Bridge fire is the left-most. Close by it on the right (click to embiggen) is the Line fire. The Airport fire is in the distance on the right.
Many cameras here: https://www.hpwren.ucsd.edu/cameras/
A guy I know severely injured his hip jumping off his mowing tractor (north Texas) when one of the mower blades struck a piece of metal in the field he was mowing, starting a fire that quickly escalated in the low-moisture grass he was mowing. Low humidity (especially over a long time) can really dry out the vegetation to the point at which it is very combustible.
Stay safe. Lord have mercy.
UPDATE: CalFire now reports that the Trabuco Canyon Airport Fire has burned over 19,000 acres. It has moved closer to the Lake Elsinore area.
Here’s a photo from a friend who lives in the Lake Elsinore area showing the Trabuco Canyon Airport Fire working its way down the hills toward the housing tracts near the lake.
Updated Map showing acreage burned:
So sad
This morning temps down considerably – currently 64°F at 8:40AM. Moisture and mist in the air in South Orange County area. The fire has consumed some 22,000 acres thus far and destroyed several homes near the Lake Elsinore area.
From the Orange County Register:
El Cariso Village is situated in the hills above the Lake Elsinore basin and is accessible only by Ortega Highway. The fire moved south overnight through the Cleveland National Forest, the area that is bisected by Ortega Highway.
🙏
The cooler temps seem to be hampering the spread of the fire. The most recent report says that 23,140 acres have burned and there is now 5% containment. If there is moisture and dew tomorrow morning that will certainly help. Still several smoldering hot spots on the hills above Rancho Santa Margarita (photo below taken this afternoon – Wednesday) even though the fire moved several miles eastward in the last couple of days.
This is a different fire – the Bridge Fire that has been burning in the San Gabriel mountains above Glendora. I took this photo yesterday from a high vantage point in the northern tip of Rancho Santa Margarita that overlooks the eastern edge of Foothill Ranch.
For those who may not be familiar with the geography of southern California, between the foothills in the foreground and the location of the Bridge Fire is the eastern side of the greater Los Angeles basin. As measured in Google Earth, there is roughly 37 miles between me and the location of the Bridge Fire. The billowing clouds from the fire have possibly drifted southward from the San Gabriels and they may have drifted toward Fullerton when I took the photo unless the atmospheric conditions and the sunlight are making them appear closer than where they actually may be. I had the impression at first glance that the clouds were directly over Anaheim.
From other vantage points in South Orange County it is possible to see Mount Baldi in the San Gabriels. Mt. Baldi was very noticeable for the last couple of winters because it got a fairly consistent blanket of snow.
I’m so sad to see to see this. We lived in SoCal for a little over 20 years and these fires are relentless. Praying for cooler weather and, God willing, some rain.
Temps are dropping this week throughout southern California. In many places the highs will be in the 70s. It’s almost as though Fall is moving in. Rain would be nice…but so far not in the 10-day forecasts that I’ve seen.
For those who may be wondering how wildfires can move downhill as what happened two nights ago in the Lake Elsinore area, firefighters have labeled what they have called the Elsinore Effect (this from an article in July of this year):
As I was writing that last comment, the house shook slightly. Malibu had a 4.7 earthquake this morning around 7AM. What I felt could have been a milder aftershock. Just par for the course.