On 25th anniversary of Laguna Beach Fire officials say they are much better prepared for a similar threat

LAGUNA BEACH — There are people who remember exactly what it was like in this beach town 25 years ago Saturday, Oct. 27.

The Laguna Beach Fire — one of the most devastating in Orange County history — began in Emerald Bay and burned to the ocean. From there, it ravaged El Morro Beach Trailer Park, then moved on to the edge of Crystal Cove State Park, blew back into North Laguna, jumped Laguna Canyon Road at Big Bend and torched through dry brush in the canyon up to the Skyline Drive and Mystic Hills neighborhoods.

Flames were 100 feet high. Winds whipped at up to 92 mph.

The fire lasted less than a day but because of terrain and weather conditions it decimated the community, torching 441 homes, scorching 14,000 acres and resulting in $528 million in damages. Of the city’s three exit points, two were impassable. The only way out was south along Coast Highway toward Dana Point.

Panicked residents streamed down Coast Highway, packing their vehicles with pets, works of art, and other valuables.

Many thought it was the end of Laguna.

But it’s now a quarter-century later, and since that devastation, much has changed in the town surrounded by 22,000 acres of open space, box canyons and cliffs rising high above the Pacific Ocean.

The city has greater access to water for dousing flames, homeowners must follow stricter safety guidelines and firefighters have more technology at their disposal.

“You have to re-educate the population because it can happen again,” said Laguna Beach Paramedic Fire Captain Joe Maxon on a recent tour in the canyons above North Laguna. “It’s not a matter of if, but when. We were fortunate — we lost 441 homes but we didn’t lose one life.”

Maxon, 56, a 31-year veteran of the department, pointed to a mound of dirt that covers a 1 million gallon water reservoir on a canyon hillside above Dartmoor Street in North Laguna. There’s another one in the Top of the World neighborhood. Both were installed after the Laguna Fire, doubling the city’s water supply, he said.

After the 1993 fire, firefighters said there wasn’t enough water available to fight the flames and residents stormed City Hall over a 3 million-gallon reservoir that had been voted down shortly before the fire. A report later confirmed that a lack of water was a problem in the firefight.

The 1993 fire also taught Laguna Beach officials and home owners to be more safety conscious.

The city has since imposed restrictions on all home renovations and new construction. Residents can’t build homes with shake shingle roofs and eaves have to be covered. The city also requires that new and renovated homes have automatic sprinkler systems.

“All homes being built along the wildland interface adhere to very strict building codes,” said Laguna Beach Fire Chief Mike Garcia. “These restrictive building codes are very helpful. Many homeowners have taken it on themselves to make their homes more fire safe.”

Laguna Beach also expanded its goat program. The herd is deployed in canyons throughout most of the town to remove brush. With the work of goats and hand crews, vegetation has been removed from about 321 acres in 18 fuel modification zones. The city plans to expand these zones but is awaiting reports on possible valuable and protected plant species before the goats can be deployed to new areas.

And on Tuesday, Oct. 23, the Laguna Beach City Council announced a $3.2 million grant — from the California Climate Investments program and funded by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection — that will help with fuel modification around all homes and buildings along Laguna Canyon Road and in the canyon. The city will contribute the remainder of the funds for the $4.2 million project.

Awareness spread beyond the city limits too. The Orange County Fire Authority started its air operations following the 1993 fire and now has four helicopters that can respond through mutual aid. The fire was also the impetus for the Community Emergency Response Team created by the Orange Police Department in collaboration with OCFA to prepare Orange County residents for emergency situations.

Laguna Beach also has improved communication through a public safety 800 megahertz system put into service in 2003. It enables communication even into the most inner canyons. The reverse 911 system helps firefighters notify residents within a specific geographic area in the event of evacuations needs.

Community preparedness programs also were added, including the Laguna Beach Fire Safe Council and its Red Flag Patrol and Ready, Set, Go — a program that helps residents be prepared, be ready to evacuate, and know what to bring with them.

Jordan Villwock, who manages Laguna Beach’s Emergency Operation Center, keeps residents informed by managing the AlertOC mass notification system and social media platforms. Firefighters say Instagram and Twitter are invaluable to them as sources of information.

During the 1993 fire, residents were driving into town to tell the fire department that Laguna was burning. The city also recently became the first city in Orange County to install a wireless notification system.

The Laguna Beach Police Department also became Orange County’s first police agency to man a drone team. Police officers routinely fly drones over the canyons looking for illegal warming fires.

Firefighters also have added new technology and firefighting apparatus since 1993 and there’s more to come.

The department has a wildland urban interface engine that is all-wheel drive and can climb into the canyon and more difficult terrain. The engine has hard suction drafts that can take water from swimming pools and it can drive while spraying water. The city also has purchased a $350,000 wildland fire engine that is expected to arrive in December.

Meanwhile, firefighters, partially through mutual aid response, are getting more hands-on experience in disasters outside Laguna. Recently, Maxon and other Laguna Beach firefighters participated in strike teams and fought the Thomas Fire in Ventura and Santa Barbara counties, the Montecito floods, the Mendicino Fire and the Cranston Fire.

“If all the planets align, you’re not going to stop a fire like 1993, but we have a lot of stopgaps,” Maxon said. “We also have the history. Fires burn in the same way. We know what happens in a 40 to 60 mph fire now. We have a better chance of slowing it down.”

On Oct. 15 and 16, Santa Ana winds for the first time in 25 years matched conditions similar to those in 1993, Maxon said. Firefighters from Laguna and OCFA were ready.

“We staffed an extra engine, OCFA staffed an extra strike team (five fire engines and a battalion commander),” Maxon said. “A strike team from the state’s Operation of Emergency Services was also in position at OCFA headquarters in Tustin.

“If something happens, people need to heed our warning if we tell them to evacuate,” he said. “It was absolutely overwhelming. It hit town like a freight train and sounded like a freight train. I know we’re more prepared.”

Fire Safety Community Event

When: Saturday, Oct. 27, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Where: Laguna Beach Fire Station 1, 5050 Forest Ave.

What: Informational booths, fire engine and station tours, Laguna Beach Fire Goat petting zoo.