Stolen Vehicle Suspected As The Cause of the Blaze
By Jerry Garner
What started with an abandoned car in a Southern California canyon quickly turned into a blazing wild fire that threatened the lives of many. Orange County fire fighters have been battling the blaze for two days. The fire scorched more than 2,000 acres of land and forced the evacuation of hundreds of homes.
The fire began Sunday morning when an abandoned car erupted into flames in the area of Windy Ridge. It is not yet known how or why the car burst into flames, but many authorities have began to speculate that it could have been a stolen vehicle that was intentionally set on fire to destroy evidence.
The location of the abandoned car resulted in flames from the vehicle being dispersed wildly around the area, due in part to the high winds of the Windy Ridge area. Windy Ridge is located at the base of Fremont Canyon, which features geographic formations that turn the canyon into a natural wind tunnel. The unseasonable Santa Ana winds gusted to as much as 48mph in the Canyon, considerably higher than the 35mph winds felt by surrounding areas.
"Fremont Canyon is the king of gusts; the Santa Anas usually blow faster there than anywhere," said Steve Vanderburg, a weather service forecaster, in an interview with the Orange County Register. "So Windy Ridge is a bad place to have an open fire."
The high winds, combined with dry fuel from drought, made the area a tender box that was primed for disaster. So far in this ‘rain year’, which started last July, the area has received only 2.5 inches of rain, compared to the normal annual rainfall of 11.5 inches. The Orange County Area has dried out significantly, placing the entire area on a constant ‘red flag’ watch for wild fires.
The blaze, which began Sunday morning, quickly spread through the area, burning three homes along the way. The path of the blaze put many multi-million dollar homes at risk in the Anaheim area, prompting police and fire officials to instate a mandatory evacuation of more than 500 homes. Police went door to door in neighborhoods where the fires raged just half a mile away.
By late Sunday evening, winds had subsided and fire fighters had contained as much as 30 percent of the blaze. The outlook was optimistic that the fire would be under control by the same time Monday, prompting officials to change the evacuation from mandatory to voluntary. Emergency shelters have been set up in area schools and community centers for those who prefer to wait until the fire is extinguished.
More than 1,000 fire fighters have been involved with fighting the fire, which has consumed more than 2,000 acres so far. In addition to fire fighters on the ground, the Orange County Fire Department has also utilized helicopters and airplanes to bombard the blaze with water and flame retardant.
The high winds carried ash from the blaze as far as 80 miles out to sea, with sizable amounts of ash raining onto the city of Anaheim along the way. The ash was thick enough to break apart the rays of the sun, creating a vibrant red sunset in the backdrop of the flames. Other areas were consumed with plumes of black smoke that could be seen from miles away.
California’s wild fire season typically peaks from June to October, but the unseasonable conditions have led to earlier outbreaks. A smaller fire consumed 25 acres in neighboring Riverside County. The early eruptions of these blazes have left many to wonder what the area will be facing when the really dry summer months approach.
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2 comments:
Dam, were I still in California, that would have been right in my backyard (Riverside).
This years weather has been really screwy so I hope that this fire season isn't as bad as the one a few years ago. I believe that one has about 20 fires going at once.
I lived in San Diego about a decade ago. The closes I ever got to this area was Oceanside. But still, I remember drives out of the city seeing mountain after mountain that was completely covered with dry sage brush. It's no surprise that these things spread so quickly. I can only imagine what it will be like this summer.
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