Fire Info

How Fire Affected our community and our friends

Some history of fire in our region:

Major Fires

Tree Mortality

Major fires in San Diego County history

September 1913: Barona fire burned 65,470 acres.

September 1928: Witch Creek fire near Santa Ysabel charred 33,240 acres.

September 1928: Beauty Peak fire near the Riverside County border in the North County blackened 67,000 acres.

October 3, 1943: Hauser Creek fire in the Cleveland National Forest, at least 9 firefighters dead (including 7 marines), 72 injuries and 10,000 acres burned.

1944: Laguna Junction fire burned 60,000 acres

1950: Conejos Fire charred 64,000 acres.

1952: Cuyamaca fire burned 64,000 acres

November 1956: Inaja fire killed 11 firefighters and burned 43,904 acres near Julian.

1960: Two Atlas missiles exploded at their test site in Sycamore Canyon, causing an estimated $27 million in damage.

September 26-Oct. 3 1970: The Laguna fire, the county's largest fire in modern times, burned 175,425 acres, killed eight people and destroyed 382 homes. In 24 hours the fire burned from near Mount Laguna into the outskirts of El Cajon and Spring Valley.

September 1978: PSA Crash in North Park

June 1985: Normal Heights fire destroyed or damaged 116 houses, causing $8.6 million in damage.

October 1993: Guejito fire east of Escondido charred 20,000 acres and destroyed 18 houses. Estimated $1.25 million damage.

October 1996: Harmony Grove fire burned 8,600 acres, from Harmony Grove west of Escondido to La Costa, destroying nearly 110 homes and killing one man.

August 1997: Lake Wohlford fire northeast of Escondido - an arson blaze - destroyed seven houses and burned 500 acres.

October 1999: La Jolla Fire (La Jolla Indian Reservation) burned approximately 7,800 acres and 1 firefighter died. The fire was started by trash burning on the La Jolla Reservation got out of control.

January 2001: Wind-driven Viejas fire consumed more than 10,000 acres of brush and destroyed five houses and five mobile homes near Alpine.

February 2002: Gavilan fire (Fallbrook area) burned approximately 5,763 acres with approximately 43 homes destroyed and 13 damaged as well. Forty vehicles, 37 outbuildings, sheds, barns and other outbuildings were also lost. (Tally includes 2 fire engines.) Property loss is estimated at $16.5 million dollars.

June 2002: Troy fire (Mt. Laguna: 2 miles north of Thing Valley Rd, Fred Canyon Road) 1,188 acres burned, 3 homes destroyed.

July 2002: The Pines Fire (Vulcan Mountain and Julian area) burned approximately 61,700 acres, destroyed 37 homes, 116 other buildings and 165 vehicles in and around Julian. Two fire engines were destroyed. The fire was started when a National Guard helicopter hit a power line.

Sources: U-T articles and the San Diego Fire Department and California Department of Forestry and Fire

Worst San Diego city fires

1910 - American-Hawaiian Co. Freighter Fire
1913 - The Great Standard Oil Fire
1925 - Brunswig Drug Company Fire
1948 - Goodrich Surplus Store Fire
1955 - Burnett Furniture Company
1956 - Fourth Alarm Kensington Fire
1957 - First Fifth Alarm Fire in Hillcrest. Two homes were destroyed and seven others were damaged.
1978 - Balboa Park - Aerospace Museum Fire - Old Globe Theatre
1978 - PSA Airliner Crash A total of 144 lives were lost including 7 people on the ground as well as the two people in the Cessna light aircraft. More than 20 residences were damaged or destroyed.
1981 - San Diego's first sixth-alarm fire was at a La Jolla condominium complex, where a tar pot was overturned inside the building. Losses were estimated at $5 million.
June 30, 1985 Normal Heights Fire destroyed 76 houses and damaged 57 others. Damage was set at $9 million.

SOURCE: City of San Diego

Tree Mortality:

Forest Friends,

I attended this presentation last month. Freatured was a slide show showing aerial photos of drought-induced tree mortality in the Laguna and Palomar areas of the Cleveland National Forest. The mortality shown in the pictures was phenomal -- percentages in the 70s and 80s in many places in the forest.

Not mentioned in the following notes, but discussed by the CDF presenter, were the substantial cuts in funding for fuel management -- $400k funded but $22million needed.

We came away from the program with a very real sense of the severe drought -- and therefore fire -- conditions present in our local forest.

This week's fires have proven the point. The fires currently burning are 'fuel driven' -- they are not being driven by wind.

Geoffrey

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Geoffrey D. Smith

858.442.1425 cell

http://home.san.rr.com/camillegeoffrey - home page; fire photos and information

From: Anne S Fege [mailto:afege@fs.fed.us]
Sent: Wednesday, October 01, 2003 6:07 PM
Subject: Notes from SD Partners for Biodiversity meeting, Sept. 23, Tree Mortality and Vegetation Management on Palomar and Laguna Mountains

Fifty-two (52!!!) folks joined us for the San Diego Partners for
Biodiversity meeting was held on Tuesday, September 23 with a feature
presentation on Tree Mortality and Vegetation Management on Palomar and
Laguna Mountains.   Bernice Bigelow, Resources Officer, Cleveland National
Forest, gave an overview of the pests such as root disease and dwarf
mistletoe that weaken the trees; drought adds further stress; then bark
beetles can successfully colonize the drought-stressed trees. Thom Porter,
Forester, California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, showed
current conditions from a recent overflight in the areas of Palomar
Mountain, Julian, Pine Hills, Lost Valley, and Laguna Mountain.
Trees in the mountains of San Diego county are suffering from drought,
overstocking, and forest pests.   Portions of southern California are in
the fifth year of a historically unprecedented drought, as the July 2001 to
June 2002 rainfall year was the driest in over 150 years. A century of
fire prevention and suppression have allowed many more trees to survive
than the land can support, and these trees are stressed even in nondrought
years. (An overflight was made in early September to assess current
mortality, and map-based results will be available in 1-2 months.)

Restoring proper stocking levels, pruning out dwarf mistletoe, and
preventing new root disease centers will make the forest drought- and bark
beetle- resistant. Restoring a natural fire cycle (with frequent cool
fires removing excess fuels and seedlings) is an important component of
maintaining healthy ecosystems, preceeded by mechanical thinning in many
places. Stand composition of oak, pine, and other species has varied over
the decades, and may shift again in response to the high pine mortality.
Trees may need to be replanted and the stands will require sustained
management (and funds) for the next decade.

Areas predicted to be experiencing high stand densification meet all of the
following conditions:
   Vegetation type is a conifer forest (but not bigcone Douglas-fir or
   pinyon/juniper)
   Elevation is at or below 7,500 feet
   Average annual precipitation is greater than 65 centimeters (25.6
   inches)
   Canopy cover is greater than 60 percent
   Slope is less than 60 percent

Dwarf MISTLETOE (Arceuthobium campylopodum) takes both nutrients and water
from its pine hosts, severely debilitating trees. As Forest Health
Protection funds have been available, the Cleveland has pruned mistletoe
from high value pines in campgrounds in the Laguna Mountain Recreation Area
and in Penny Pines plantations on Laguna Mountain and on Forest lands in
western Riverside County, greatly enhancing tree health and longevity.
Mistletoe control work is an ongoing effort.

Many of the clearings on Laguna Mountain are the result of infection of
stumps by a FUNGAL ROOT PATHOGEN, Heterobasidion annosum also known as
Fomes annosus. Once in the soil, the pathogen remains active for decades.
Trees which contact infected roots are attacked and killed by the fungus.
The Forest is preventing new centers by treating all fresh conifer stumps
with a highly effective registered pesticide, Sporax® (granular sodium
tetraborate decahydrate). Eventually existing centers will become inactive.

Vigorously growing trees are able to pitch out attacking bark BEETLES, such
as this western pine beetle, Dendroctonus brevicomis. The ips engraver
beetle, Ips pini, attacks both Jeffrey and Coulter pines; however, the ips
is less aggressive and cannot survive in vigorously growing trees. Red
turpentine beetles, Dendroctonus valens, are common in the pine forests of
southern California and colonize all species of pine within their range.
The California flathead wood borer (family Buprestidae) consumes the moist
inner bark of pines, killing the tree.
________________________________________________
Anne S. Fege, Forest Supervisor
Cleveland National Forest
10845 Rancho Bernardo Road, #200
San Diego, CA 92127-2107
Phone 858-674-2982, Cellphone 858-472-1293
Email afege@fs.fed.us, Fax 858-673-6192