On Saturday, Nov. 15, 2008, at approximately 9:00 AM, a fire started along the 91 Freeway from a spark emitted from the catalytic converter of a passing car. In less than two hours, it traveled almost two miles (3 km) before entering my Yorba Linda, Calif., neighborhood. By the time the fire was brought under control three days later, it had consumed 30,305 acres and destroyed 314 homes and apartments.

My Story
That morning, I was five hours from home, duck hunting with my next-door neighbor. I received a call from my wife at 10:15 AM and his wife called him three minutes later. A fire was fast approaching our neighborhood, and they had just been ordered to leave immediately. "What should I take? What car? I'll load the dogs and grab what I can," was all that my wife could muster in the urgency of the moment. She loaded a computer, some pictures and a case of the "good wine." However, she never thought about jewelry, art or even our wedding album.

My neighbor was on his phone doing his best to instruct his wife about packing a few things and getting on the road with their three-year-old daughter. Both of our wives left together but got separated on the way out of our neighborhood in the dense smoke and traffic. My neighbor's wife ultimately was directed the wrong way onto the 12-lane 91 Freeway just in time to have the brushfire jump directly over her vehicle and into homes and apartments on the other side.

During the next 45 minutes, we watched a live feed showing the first houses in our neighborhood beginning to burn and the fire spreading quickly from east to west with the 50+ mph (80+ kph) Santa Ana winds in 90°F (32°C) and 8% humidity conditions that consumed dry brush, landscape, outdoor decks and homes in its path. Ultimately, our families reached safe locations and waited as the fire burned uncontrolled over the next three days.

We were finally allowed to return to our homes on Sunday evening. None of us had any idea if our homes had been lost in the fire. We were fortunate to find that only our backyards had burned and ash and smoke had collected inside. Across the street, our neighbor's home was nothing more than a smoldering pile of rubble.

Our home was on the leeward side of the ridge, and we saw evidence of the firefighters having taken a stand. There was no such opportunity across the street where the house stood at the top of the canyon, facing into the wind with no shelter from the flame front. Twenty-five homes were lost in our immediate neighborhood, almost all on the windward side of the ridge. Also, it appeared that the fire accessed many of the homes through roof vents.

Pam's Story
I recently spoke to another neighbor who lost her home during the fire. Her home was located on the very east side of the neighborhood and was the first one to become fully involved in fire.

Her story sounded familiar. After observing the early stage of the fire and how it moved quickly from ridge to ridge "directly at their home," her husband began using a water hose to wet the landscape and structure along the east-facing side of their property. She began to pack. The next 30 minutes were filled with adrenalin-fed activities that led to collecting, packing and loading random valuables-some pictures, the best jewelry, her son's computer, a pair of jeans, two dogs and three suitcases, of which two turned out to be empty. Many people gathered in her yard to watch the advancing fire, yet she never thought to ask for help in evacuating.

She and her husband eventually evacuated to a local restaurant less than 90 minutes after they became aware of the fire. From there, they watched their house burn.

Observations
The speed of fire spread under these conditions can easily be underestimated, but personal pre-planning for such an event can determine the outcome.

The structures in our neighborhood were built during the last 15 years with exterior stucco walls, clay tile roofs and double-paned windows. However, the vulnerability of the under-protected attic vent openings was part of the lessons learned from the fire.

It is possible for an individual and family to manage the personal risk of losing their home and belongings in a wildfire. In any location, the likelihood of extension of the fire into a home can be reduced by investing in construction features and systems that reduce the home's vulnerability. An investment in more aggressive fuel management also can reduce the likelihood of fire spread to a home. Guidance for these strategies can be found in references such as the Wildland-Urban Interface Code¹ and NFPA 1144².

Finally, it is impossible to eliminate all risk from a wildland fire exposure. For this reason, the financial and emotional recovery from an event largely depends on the decisions one makes.

In all, these are not new ideas. However, after living through this experience with my family and neighbors, I realize that the fire hazard of choosing to live in an urban-wildland environment is real and managing the risk is ultimately an individual responsibility.

A full report on this fire can be found at www.ocfamedia.org.

Dan Gemeny is with Rolf Jensen & Associates.

References:

1. International Wildland-Urban Interface Code, International Code Council, Washington, DC, 2009.
2. NFPA 1144, Standard for Reducing Structure Ignition Hazards from Wildland Fire, National Fire Protection Association, Quincy, MA, 2008