As winds die down, crews get handle on fire near Disneyland

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IRVINE, Calif. — With improved weather conditions, nearly 1,100 firefighters were holding the upper hand Tuesday on a blaze that swept through portions of Orange County, officials said.

The wildfire turned the sky over Disneyland a hazy orange and rained ash on neighborhoods, but by Tuesday evening, most evacuations were lifted in Anaheim, Orange and Tustin, with just a few roads still off-limits.

The blaze, dubbed Canyon Fire 2, had burned more than 8,000 acres and was 40% contained as of Tuesday evening, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

The cause of the blaze was under investigation, Capt. Larry Kurtz, of the Orange County Fire Authority, said during a news conference in Irvine.

The fire in Orange County, which started on Monday in the same area as the original Canyon Fire that ignited last year, was one of more than 30 wildfires crews were battling across California. The fire destroyed about 13 homes and damaged 21 more, Kurtz said.

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Overnight shelters at Katella High School in Anaheim and El Modena High School in Orange were available to those who had been evacuated. Shortly before 6 p.m. PT Tuesday, Anaheim evacuees were permitted to return home.

“Our priority is by this evening, we expect to have some sort of limited repopulation,” Steve Beach, a chief Cal Fire.

For Anaheim Hills residents such as Christine McPherson, who had been staying at the shelter in Orange, that was good news.

“The agencies have been really remarkable,” McPherson said. “But I want to go home.” 

As McPherson and others waited inside the high school gymnasium, reading books to pass the time, Beach said firefighters would be taking advantage of the progress crews made on the west side of the blaze. 

“For the most part, most of the fire on the west side of Highway 241, we have halted it in place. That doesn’t mean it’s out,” Beach said.

But it does mean firefighters can engage in putting out those flames because the perimeter of the blaze is not expanding.

Highway 241, a toll road through Orange County, was closed entirely until further notice because of the fire. One eastbound lane of Highway 91 was closed, but the rest of the highway was open. Other roads in the evacuated areas were also closed. 

Although the Santa Ana winds that whipped the fast-growing fire on Monday were no longer a factor, normal wind patterns still had the ability to spread the blaze on its east side where unburnt wildland brush could ignite, Beach said. 

“We are throwing a bunch of resources in there so that when the wind comes back to a normal onshore pattern, we are ready to receive that fire when it changes course and burns uphill,” Beach said.

Waiting and reading

Stacks of bottled water and a series of tables with snacks and freshly served Mexican food were offered to displaced residents inside the gym of El Modena High School.

“We’re getting a variety of food here,” said Anaheim Hills resident Kate Kim. 

She was surprised at how well taken care of the evacuees were. 

When she and her husband arrived about noon Monday, there was pizza for lunch and rice and chicken for dinner. And the cots they slept on were surprisingly comfortable. 

Basima El Hasan, a Red Cross communications volunteer, said 19 people slept at the shelter Monday night, but people had been coming in and out most of the day. They were from the Anaheim Hills, Tustin and Orange areas, she said. 

“We’ll be here as long as they need us to be,” she said. 

Kim said they also had a free ATT charging center for all types of phones, which she appreciated because they were expecting a call from a friend in Brazil. 

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The married couple had been visiting with that friend in Brazil recently and returned on Sunday. That’s why they were a bit late on Monday morning for their routine walk around the neighborhood with Zoe, their Boston terrier. 

“We came out of the house around 10:30. It was really windy, and we smelled the really smoky air,” Kim said. 

They decided to end their walk sooner than normal because the air quality was not great. As they walked back home, they saw helicopters and a neighbor packing up a car. The neighbor told them about the fire, and they quickly started getting ready to leave. 

“Since we were too tired to unpack our stuff, we just put it into the car,” Kim said, adding that they took food and supplies for Zoe, too. 

The couple, originally from South Korea, eventually made their way to the El Modena High shelter. 

One of the classrooms had been converted to an animal shelter. The Red Cross activated the SoCal Animal Response Team to help care for pets, said team member Kate Simon. 

As of Tuesday afternoon, they were taking care of four dogs, including Zoe, and two cats, Simon said. Horses, goats and llamas were in the school’s parking lot on Monday night but were relocated to be cared for at the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa, Simon said. 

A veterinary technician was also on hand to help any animals feeling stressed out. 

“It’s really nice to have the vet tech here because cats are sensitive,” Simon said. 

McPherson’s cat, Charlie, was having a tough time. And so was she. 

She learned of the fire Monday after having breakfast at Marie Callendar’s with plans to buy Charlie some more cat food. When she came out of the restaurant, she saw the smoke. 

“I knew we were in trouble,” McPherson said. 

Red Cross officials said an Anaheim police officer brought her to the shelter on Monday. Charlie was also rescued and brought to the shelter. 

Both McPherson and Kim said they had not heard anything about their homes. But Kim said she and her husband aren’t stressing over it. 

“We decided not to worry about our house — whether it’s burnt or not — until we see our house,” Kim said, adding that worrying won’t do them any good. 

Contributing: The Associated Press. Follow Megan Diskin on Twitter: @megandiskin

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