109-acre brush fire destroys large house in Chino Hills, threatens others

A 109-acre brush fire racing up from a rugged area in Chino Hills devoured a large house and spread alarmingly close to others on Sunday afternoon.

The home on Miramonte Court appeared to be destroyed. Firefighters used ladders to spray directly into the residence from the caved-in roof.

“My sister was calling 9-1-1, frantic,” said Arthur Forrest II, who watched with his family as the flames and billowing smoke consumed their home. “This is devastating.”

The blaze, dubbed the Star fire, had reached 109 acres by 5 p.m., with 50 percent containment. Forward progress was halted, said Massiel De Guevara, spokeswoman for the Chino Valley Fire District.

There were no neighborhood evacuations and no injuries, she said.

The fire began near Falling Star Lane and Chino Hills Parkway. At shortly after 2 p.m., Chino Valley Fire reported it reached 50 acres. Chino Avenue between the Parkway and La Sierra was closed.

Various agencies responded, including Cal Fire and Los Angeles County Fire, battling the blaze with hoses and aerial water drops.

Many residents were home when the fire began to burn in a gully at the bottom of the hill, Forrest said.

The 28-year-old man and his father hosed down their house but were forced to stop as the flames got closer.

“The wind energy brought the fire straight to us,” he said.

They fled to a nearby shopping center. When Forrest couldn’t reach his mother, they decided to return to the house. Smoke had enveloped the neighborhood.

He was trying to put out embers falling all around him when his cousin saw the home catch fire.

The firefighters didn’t have enough water pressure in their hoses, Forrest said.

De Guevara said there was a “slight drop” in the pressure temporarily because so much water was being used at one time, including the firefighters and the residents hosing down their houses. She said the water company quickly provided a boost.

See also: This map shows where the Star fire is burning in Chino Hills

Forrest said the family had complained to the city about the brush below their home, saying it was overgrown.

He said the city cut it back.

Other residents on Monteverde Drive also said they were concerned about a brush fire through the years.

“This should be a wake up call for Chino Hills,” said Farrokh Fathian, who was standing just behind police tape with about two dozen residents watching the Forrest family’s home smolder and a torrent of water flow through the gutter.

“I’ve told them the brush is too high – there’s going to be a fire like that,” Fathian said.

 

Fathian, 64, has lived in Chino Hills for 30 years, and fought at least one brush fire that got close to his home about a decade ago.

He came out on Sunday when he saw all the smoke and heard a house nearby was on fire.

“I was worried about this,” he said.

Jay Monroe, who lives in a different neighborhood, seemed more focused on the Star fire itself than its potential destruction.

Looking east across the hills from Chino Hills Parkway, he shot videos of the firefighting aircraft and helicopters buzzing overhead every couple of minutes.

“I’ve never been this close to a fire … except maybe driving by on the freeway,” Monroe said.

As he spoke, an arm of the fire caught a patch of thick brush, sending up a pillar of flames just behind a hill off to his left.

“It’s so loud,” he said.