Bolsa Chica wetlands will recover from 62-acre fire, preservationist says

A vegetation fire in the Bolsa Chica wetlands charred more than 62 acres Sunday but preservationists say the area will recover from the damage and it appears most of the wildlife were not majorly impacted by the blaze.

The blaze set off fearsome blankets of smoke over the land,  popularly known as the Mesa, near the 3800 block of Warner Avenue in the Huntington Beach area. The flames were first reported at around 4 p.m. and moved quickly with onshore winds through the dry brush. Firefighters were able to get it contained by 7 p.m., battling it from the ground and in the air with helicopter water drops.

Flames charred land east of the waters that run along the east side of Pacific Coast Highway, near Brightwater Drive, between Fordham Lane and Warner Avenue, according to Huntington Beach fire officials.

Kim Kolpin, executive director of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust, credited the firefighters’ speed and aggressive fight with limiting the damage done to the area.

The burn scar is part of a protected wildlife habitat, but the nursery of the Bolsa Chica Land Trust was undamaged, officials for the Land Trust said.

Kolpin and representatives from the Department of Fish and Wildlife surveyed the burn area Monday morning evaluating the damage done.

“It looks like it went pretty fast and did not burn down deep into the soil,” Kolpin said. She added that much of what burned was non-native grasses that were already dead.

“Our native plants can survive this because their roots go super deep so they don’t get as impacted by the fire.”

Kolpin said she did come across some dead lizards and snakes but it appears the larger animals were able to move away from the flames. The area’s biggest mammal is the coyote, she said.

Many locals are also familiar with owls that stay in a grove of trees.

“That’s where those baby owls are so we were very concerned,” Kolpin said. “They may have been spooked because of the smoke but as of now they look like they weren’t affected.”

No injuries were reported because of the fire and no structures were damaged. Huntington Beach fire spokesman Eric Blaska said Monday that investigators were working to determine what caused the blaze.

“Fortunately there was no damage to structures…and there were homes about 100 yards away,” Blaska said.

Kolpin said an upside to the fire was that it burned grass species that would have needed to go anyway.

“They’re invasive grasses that we’ve been ripping out for 25 years,” she said.

In turn, other plants that will benefit the local wildlife can be added to the burn scar area.

Kolpin said the frightening Sunday fire was a “nightmare come true.”

“It did look horrible” she said. “But from what we’re seeing, it definitely will recover and certainly the land trust in cooperation with (the Department of Fish and Wildlife) will use this as an opportunity to enhance the habitat.”