Tuesday, October 10, 2017 12:24:47 AM
Canyon Fire 2 has destroyed 6,000 acres and 24 structures, threatening another 5,000
A firefighter puts out hot spots in a home that was destroyed on Via El Estribo in Anaheim Hills during the Canyon Two Fire in Anaheim, California, on Monday, October 9, 2017.
ANAHEIM HILLS – A wind-driven, fast-moving brush fire had burned 6,000 acres by Monday evening, prompting several thousand residents to evacuate on the county’s eastern edge, with 24 structures destroyed and many more damaged, officials said.
Anaheim Fire & Rescue officials tweeted just before 9 p.m. that 1,000 firefighters were battling the blaze that began Monday morning at 9:40.
Fire officials expect the number of damaged homes to grow. At 6 p.m., they said, 5,000 structures were being threatened, with wind conditions limiting the aerial attack.
About 500 firefighters were on scene most of the day, and that number doubled by Monday night. Massive fires in Northern California made it more difficult to fight what has been dubbed the Canyon Fire 2.
“We are probably, by tomorrow morning, going to be stretched as thin as we can be, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to fight the fire,” said Steve Beach, chief of the state’s fire department.
Vice President Mike Pence, in the area for a fundraiser in Newport Beach, chatted at John Wayne Airport with first responders and tweeted about it.
As of 5 p.m., there was 5 percent containment of the fire, which left the eastbound 91 freeway closed at Imperial Highway.
A giant plume of smoke wafted above the city and beyond.
Earlier, mandatory evacuations were issued for parts of Anaheim Hills, Orange Park Acres, North Tustin and East Orange. El Modena High School, in Orange, was set up as a Red Cross evacuation center.
Additional mandatory evacuations were ordered for Orange’s Santiago Hills area including Jamboree Road, Canyon View Avenue, Skylark Place, Chapman University and Santiago Canyon College.
Sarah Abdel-Nasar, 20, said she saw flames sparking in her backyard on Armstrong Court.
“I jumped in my car and immediately went down the hill,” she said. “My backyard was burning.”
She was waiting to meet her father near the Target on Santa Ana Canyon Road. He had raced home to get the family’s cat and was putting out hot spots in the yard. Her grandmother, Joanne Shatswell, drove out from Lake Elsinore to make sure her family was OK.
“It was like a tornado of smoke over the freeway,” she said.
Cathy Johnson was evacuated from her home on Rainview Court in Anaheim Hills with her two small dogs. Johnson said this is the second time she’s been evacuated for a fire. Ten years ago, a fire came so close the water-dropping helicopters set off car alarms, she said.
“This time I just grabbed what I could – medication and the essentials and left with the dogs,” she said. “It’s a lot to think about, trying to get all your valuable possession when you have to leave fast.”
Bob Kraus, 68, and his wife Pam Kraus, 70, both in commercial real estate, have lived on Brier Lane in Cowan Heights for 29 years.
“We’re packing up right now,” said Pam Kraus, choking back tears. “You just can’t know if the fire’s going to reach you or not.”
They hauled valuables to the car, as well as their pet tortoise.
James Patton, 32, a real estate agent, and his girlfriend, Faith Lott, 28, a lender, were evacuating their condominium in East Orange.
“We can see flames,” Patton said. “We’re grabbing computers, legal files, cash, electronics. … We only have two goldfish. We’re leaving them. Don’t tell them I told you so,” he joked.
They would head to his father’s house in Tustin, parts of which are also being evacuated. “But he’s out of the fire zone,” Patton said. “The fire would have to go through 4,000 homes to get to him.”
Some stayed.
The hills in Cowan Heights, resident J. Hoffman evacuated his wife and children and the family’s animals, which included two horses, 22 chickens, three cats, three dogs and two turtles. But Hoffman and his father-in-law were staying put to keep an eye on the house.
“Ten years ago I stayed, and I’m staying today,” he said.
Vicky Walker lives next door to a house completely burned on Via El Estribo in Anaheim Hills. When the fire reached her neighbor’s home, she armed herself with a hose and prepared to her animals for an escape.
Including her neighbor’s, she had three dogs and 12 tortoises in the car ready to hit the road – but she waited and prayed before leaving.
“I thought, ‘Lord, help me,’” Walker said. “The big man always comes through, no matter what.”
Her prayers were answered when firefighters arrived and took over. As the sun set, and the fire calmed in that neighborhood, Walker embraced a firefighter and thanked him for saving her home.
“I’m grateful,” she said. “I’m grateful to the firemen, the police officers, and grateful to God.”
Another lucky resident: Joseph Payne, who lives on East Avenida De Santiago in Anaheim Hills.
He head news of the fire and headed home to save a few possessions – mainly his wife’s jewelry.
“It was crazy,” Payne said. “You could see the fire coming over the hill.”
Upon arriving, he found fire climbing up a hill in his backyard. He was about 30 seconds from taking his family and running, but he noticed the winds changing favorably.
With help from his son and his friends, Payne fended off the encroaching fire with his garden hose.
Staring at the charred earth that ended just a few feet from his home, Payne said he felt “tired, but grateful. …
“Nobody got hurt, the house is still standing, and it looks like they’ve got most of it put out. It’s great news,” he said. “I felt either we’re going to put it out, or we’re going to run. We weren’t going to be stupid.”
It all began at 9:40 a.m., when the blaze was reported off the 91 freeway near the Gypsum Canyon Road exit, said Capt. Larry Kurtz of the Orange County Fire Authority.
Santa Ana
http://www.dailynews.com/2017/10/09/brush-fire-burning-25-acres-in-anaheim-hills/
A firefighter puts out hot spots in a home that was destroyed on Via El Estribo in Anaheim Hills during the Canyon Two Fire in Anaheim, California, on Monday, October 9, 2017.
ANAHEIM HILLS – A wind-driven, fast-moving brush fire had burned 6,000 acres by Monday evening, prompting several thousand residents to evacuate on the county’s eastern edge, with 24 structures destroyed and many more damaged, officials said.
Anaheim Fire & Rescue officials tweeted just before 9 p.m. that 1,000 firefighters were battling the blaze that began Monday morning at 9:40.
Fire officials expect the number of damaged homes to grow. At 6 p.m., they said, 5,000 structures were being threatened, with wind conditions limiting the aerial attack.
About 500 firefighters were on scene most of the day, and that number doubled by Monday night. Massive fires in Northern California made it more difficult to fight what has been dubbed the Canyon Fire 2.
“We are probably, by tomorrow morning, going to be stretched as thin as we can be, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to fight the fire,” said Steve Beach, chief of the state’s fire department.
Vice President Mike Pence, in the area for a fundraiser in Newport Beach, chatted at John Wayne Airport with first responders and tweeted about it.
As of 5 p.m., there was 5 percent containment of the fire, which left the eastbound 91 freeway closed at Imperial Highway.
A giant plume of smoke wafted above the city and beyond.
Earlier, mandatory evacuations were issued for parts of Anaheim Hills, Orange Park Acres, North Tustin and East Orange. El Modena High School, in Orange, was set up as a Red Cross evacuation center.
Additional mandatory evacuations were ordered for Orange’s Santiago Hills area including Jamboree Road, Canyon View Avenue, Skylark Place, Chapman University and Santiago Canyon College.
Sarah Abdel-Nasar, 20, said she saw flames sparking in her backyard on Armstrong Court.
“I jumped in my car and immediately went down the hill,” she said. “My backyard was burning.”
She was waiting to meet her father near the Target on Santa Ana Canyon Road. He had raced home to get the family’s cat and was putting out hot spots in the yard. Her grandmother, Joanne Shatswell, drove out from Lake Elsinore to make sure her family was OK.
“It was like a tornado of smoke over the freeway,” she said.
Cathy Johnson was evacuated from her home on Rainview Court in Anaheim Hills with her two small dogs. Johnson said this is the second time she’s been evacuated for a fire. Ten years ago, a fire came so close the water-dropping helicopters set off car alarms, she said.
“This time I just grabbed what I could – medication and the essentials and left with the dogs,” she said. “It’s a lot to think about, trying to get all your valuable possession when you have to leave fast.”
Bob Kraus, 68, and his wife Pam Kraus, 70, both in commercial real estate, have lived on Brier Lane in Cowan Heights for 29 years.
“We’re packing up right now,” said Pam Kraus, choking back tears. “You just can’t know if the fire’s going to reach you or not.”
They hauled valuables to the car, as well as their pet tortoise.
James Patton, 32, a real estate agent, and his girlfriend, Faith Lott, 28, a lender, were evacuating their condominium in East Orange.
“We can see flames,” Patton said. “We’re grabbing computers, legal files, cash, electronics. … We only have two goldfish. We’re leaving them. Don’t tell them I told you so,” he joked.
They would head to his father’s house in Tustin, parts of which are also being evacuated. “But he’s out of the fire zone,” Patton said. “The fire would have to go through 4,000 homes to get to him.”
Some stayed.
The hills in Cowan Heights, resident J. Hoffman evacuated his wife and children and the family’s animals, which included two horses, 22 chickens, three cats, three dogs and two turtles. But Hoffman and his father-in-law were staying put to keep an eye on the house.
“Ten years ago I stayed, and I’m staying today,” he said.
Vicky Walker lives next door to a house completely burned on Via El Estribo in Anaheim Hills. When the fire reached her neighbor’s home, she armed herself with a hose and prepared to her animals for an escape.
Including her neighbor’s, she had three dogs and 12 tortoises in the car ready to hit the road – but she waited and prayed before leaving.
“I thought, ‘Lord, help me,’” Walker said. “The big man always comes through, no matter what.”
Her prayers were answered when firefighters arrived and took over. As the sun set, and the fire calmed in that neighborhood, Walker embraced a firefighter and thanked him for saving her home.
“I’m grateful,” she said. “I’m grateful to the firemen, the police officers, and grateful to God.”
Another lucky resident: Joseph Payne, who lives on East Avenida De Santiago in Anaheim Hills.
He head news of the fire and headed home to save a few possessions – mainly his wife’s jewelry.
“It was crazy,” Payne said. “You could see the fire coming over the hill.”
Upon arriving, he found fire climbing up a hill in his backyard. He was about 30 seconds from taking his family and running, but he noticed the winds changing favorably.
With help from his son and his friends, Payne fended off the encroaching fire with his garden hose.
Staring at the charred earth that ended just a few feet from his home, Payne said he felt “tired, but grateful. …
“Nobody got hurt, the house is still standing, and it looks like they’ve got most of it put out. It’s great news,” he said. “I felt either we’re going to put it out, or we’re going to run. We weren’t going to be stupid.”
It all began at 9:40 a.m., when the blaze was reported off the 91 freeway near the Gypsum Canyon Road exit, said Capt. Larry Kurtz of the Orange County Fire Authority.
Santa Ana
http://www.dailynews.com/2017/10/09/brush-fire-burning-25-acres-in-anaheim-hills/
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