Santiago Fire/South OC FIRE

[Wrecker]

Channel 9's showing pics of Foothill Ranch and there are a few guys with mtn bikes in the smoky street, what's up with that?

[tkblazer]

heres a map of Whiting and neighboring homes

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=e...wloc=addr&om=1

The city of Lake Forest has just announced mandatory evacuations for the following streets in Foothill Ranch: La Solita, La Perla, Pandale and Calle Cabrillo.

[KeepsWhatHappens]

Just saw on channel 4 some homes near Borrego Outlook park in Foothill Ranch get saved as flames approached, Looks like Borrego Trail is going to be toast.

KeepsWhatHappens

[xhuskr]

Originally Posted by KeepsWhatHappens

Looks like Borrego Trail is going to be toast.

KeepsWhatHappens

[cjwally]

This sucks... We lose Oaks.... Now WHITING also??? Oaks was set by arson too right?

[steviebfromtheoc]

I believe oaks was generated from a car that was stolen and abandoned off the 241

[TURNERob]

I saw that on channel 4, they also mentioned that the fire had jumped Santiago Canyon over into Modjeska.

[genusmtbkr5]

Originally Posted by cjwally

This sucks... We lose Oaks.... Now WHITING also??? Oaks was set by arson too right?

Ya, someone stole a car, abandoned it on the 241 toll rd and set it on fire.

[cjwally]

Originally Posted by genusmtbkr5

Ya, someone stole a car, abandoned it on the 241 toll rd and set it on fire.

Does that count as arson?

[2wheel_lee]

Originally Posted by cjwally

Does that count as arson?

From what I heard last night, no. Arson is an attempt to start a fire with malicious intent, whereas the person burning the car was trying to hide evidence. Again, this is what someone said on the news.

The end result still burns my hide.

[genusmtbkr5]

My sister lives by Whiting. She can see the flames from her street. She said the wind is blowing away from them. All residents in her area are standing by to evacuate, some already left.

[Supernam]

So none of the houses have been touched yet right?

[TURNERob]

Originally Posted by Supernam

So none of the houses have been touched yet right?

I think 1 house caught on fire but was quickly put out. Some other close calls though, firefighters are doing a hell of a job.

[tkblazer]

heres a map of all the fires goin on right now

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=UT...,19.885254&z=6

[KeepsWhatHappens]

Just saw an update on Whiting. No homes lost. Fire is burning down Borrego from junction with Mustard Road. A fire official said they are making a stand at Portola at the park entrance across from Outback. They are going to let it burn itself down to the road and they are defending the homes and the school on the canyon rims.

You could see flames above the parking lot from the camera position in front of Outback.

The good news is no homes are gone, no one is hurt and the winds looked pretty calm on the live TV shot in Foothill Ranch.

What a shame. All because some idiot(s) wanted to get their jollies.

Oh and the OCFA again urged people to not come lookie-loo. It just makes their job tougher. I agree - these guys need every break they can get!

KeepsWhatHappens

[Smirnus]

My wife used to work at the swim school behind the Ralph's shopping center. They haven't closed their doors yet.

[OMR]

It is with a heavy heart that I post the following from a docent for Irvine Land Trust:

I just got off the phone with the Irvine Land Conservancy who
manages Limestone Canyon for the Irvine Company. IRC said Limestone
is pretty much a complete loss as far as fire damage. There may be
some pockets remaining inside, but until all the fire is out, they
will not know for sure. The fire has also spread into some areas of
Whiting – as much as 1/3 is what they estimate right now. As you
may or may not know, Limestone and Whiting back right up next to
each other. The fire was started by some psycho arsonist.

The fire started up by the spur gate area around where Santiago and
Silverado meet and went up Hicks Haul Road. It eventually jumped
the 241 and then spread south consuming all of Limestone as it
burned. All future activities in Limestone for the next two or
three months have been put on hold until the damage can be
assessed. New vegetation may need to be planted, i.e. seedlings and
seeds to assist in regrowth.

We can only hope the animals found safer places to be with all
this. Cameras will be set up again as soon as possible to monitor
activity. There were at least four active mountain lions in the
area, including one mother with two cubs.

Please check with the rangers at Whiting on when the park will open
again and do not ride in there until the park is open and ready for
us. If it ends up getting burned anywhere near like Santiago Oaks
did a few months back, it could be quite a while before it is open
to the public again.

Kim

[JamR]

Toured our area this afternoon and it's pretty amazing how fast this fire went through.

Some areas burned so fast and so low that our camera's survived without a blemish.

Other areas burned completely through power poles and melted several dozen construction vehicles, chain link fences, and steel buildings.

It's a complete moonscape from Jeffrey and Portola all the way to the Augustine staging area across from Irvine Lake.

Did not get up to any of the ridgelines yet, or to any of the oak woodlands. Probably will tomorrow.

Still lots of smoldering back there and some open flames on fence posts and power poles, but nothing left to burn around the poles.

Originally Posted by JamR

Toured our area this afternoon and it's pretty amazing how fast this fire went through.

Some areas burned so fast and so low that our camera's survived without a blemish.

Other areas burned completely through power poles and melted several dozen construction vehicles, chain link fences, and steel buildings.

It's a complete moonscape from Jeffrey and Portola all the way to the Augustine staging area across from Irvine Lake.

Did not get up to any of the ridgelines yet, or to any of the oak woodlands. Probably will tomorrow.

Still lots of smoldering back there and some open flames on fence posts and power poles, but nothing left to burn around the poles.

Wow....OCFA just let me know that it jumped back across Santiago Canyon Rd. into Irvine Mesa, so they're jumping into that area with equipment right now.

This fire seriously has a life of it's own.

[Keith B]

Originally Posted by Winger

Keith, that's huge.

Here's the arson report info from the ocregister site:

He asked that anyone with information call a tip line at 800-540-8282.

Called in the info - maybe it'll turn out to be of use.