Rancho Santa Margarita Homes & Lifestyles

It’s a red flag fire season. Are you ready?

There was a time many years ago that I could have raised my hand and answered that question with an immediate, “yes!” I was the poster child for emergency preparedness. I had my emergency supply of 5-gallon Sparklett’s water bottles; and emergency kit equipped with an am/fm radio, a flashlight and batteries; a fully-stocked first aid kit; blankets, cash and enough dried, packaged and canned food to last my family a week. My photos, address book and legal documents could be packed up and stuffed into a car in a moment’s notice. I’ll admit that this is not quite the case today.

Being a life long resident of Orange County I have witnessed countless brush fires, experienced sporadic earthquakes and have endured rare but none-the-less disruptive power outages. I know the value of being prepared. We all do. How could we not? We have been warned repeatedly. It’s plastered all over the papers, it’s the hot topic of our favorite newscasters, and it’s all over the web. We’ve seen disaster after disaster. So what’s the excuse? Why aren’t we ready?

The Southern California fire season officially starts in May and runs through November, but with this year’s minimal rainfall there was barely a break between one fire season and the next. Much of Rancho Santa Margarita and the Canyon Areas are at elevated risk this summer. Part of the beauty of these communities is their proximity to the great outdoors. But the thing that makes them so beautiful and desirous is the same thing that presents the highest danger. They are situated in a high fire hazard zone.

The foothill and canyon areas of Rancho Santa Margarita, Trabuco Canyon, Dove Canyon, Coto de Caza, Las Flores and Wagon Wheel are surrounded by dry dense brush that is ripe for a wild-land fire. And with limited ingress and egress, residents in communities such as Robinson Ranch and Trabuco Highlands need to be even more prepared for potential fire-related evacuations. Communities along the Arroyos are also at increased risk. Let’s face it people. It’s dry, dry, dry.

In May of 2002 there was a wild-land fire that started to the east Antonio Parkway between Meandering Trail and Tijeras Creek. I was working from home in Las Flores that day and heard a slew of sirens passing. I didn’t pay any attention to them. A few moments later I received a call from my youngest child’s school requesting that I pick him up immediately because of “the fire.” The fire? What fire? I jumped in the car and raced drove the posted speed limit up Antonio Parkway. But the road was already blocked off at Meandering Trail and officers were turning cars around.

My cell phone rang and on the other end I heard my oldest son shouting into the phone that he and his friends needed to be picked up from Tesoro High School immediately. He was standing at the corner of Oso Parkway and Tesoro watching the brush-fire burn across the 241 toll road from a distance of 200 yards. My cell phone rang again. It was my youngest child’s school again. Their evacuation had been canceled. Instead other elementary and middle schools were being evacuated and bussed to Las Flores Middle School.

By this time I had already made the mandatory u-turn at Meandering Trail and was heading southbound on Antonio. I had just enough time to make a left onto Oso Parkway before officers shut down that road to eastbound traffic. I picked up a carload of students from Tesoro and as we waited through traffic to exit the school lot we snapped photos and took video of firefighters, emergency crews and water-dropping helicopters. The left-hand turn out of the school was blocked so I turned right on Oso (headed toward Coto de Caza) thinking that it would be easier to u-turn at Wagon Wheel. Big mistake.

Residents of Wagon Wheel were in the process of a voluntary evacuation. The fire was burning up the back hill and flames were shooting up along the ridge line. It was at once both brilliant and fierce. And mesmerizing. Once inside the community of Wagon Wheel we were essentially gridlocked. The air was heavy with smoke and ash. When it occurred to me that there was only one road out of Dodge I had a moment of panic. Fire has a way of distorting time and distance and I had no idea whether we were in immediate danger or not. My desire to get the heck out of there was nearly all-consuming.

But the fire fighters did their thing and they did it well. The ninety-five personnel from eighty-seven units that were assigned to this incident contained the fire and protected all structures. By Southern California standards this was a small brush-fire. But being in the middle of it, it felt huge. The experience taught me just how quickly a fire can move and underscored the value of being fire-ready when living in a hazardous fire zone.

I no longer live along the Arroyo and my current neighborhood is not considered a hazardous fire zone. But I still sell homes in these areas. I always make it a point to emphasize the importance of fire preparedness with my clients. Disaster preparedness is not something to push off for a future date. If nothing else, at least stock the water, some emergency food and have some essential legal documents and a sampling of photos in an easy-to-get-to location. It’s better to be safe than sorry. Especially in Southern California.

For more information on fire and disaster preparedness visit the Orange County Fire Authority website.

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