State Lacks Power to Halt Permit Burn Tied to Palomar Fire

California Department of Forestry officials said Friday that even if they had known of a pending Santa Ana weather condition last weekend, they still would have been powerless to stop a permit holder from “slash” burning and allegedly igniting a 15,800-acre fire that has burned at Palomar Mountain for a week.

Dan Lang, a CDF prevention engineer, said from his Sacramento office that most local forestry fire stations and offices are powerless to halt the burning of debris once a permit has been issued. Burning can be prevented only if a county Air Pollution Control District orders a “no burn” day or the forestry director in Sacramento issues a “red flag” advisory for weather conditions.

“The only thing the local (APCD) board is concerned with is air quality. If the local board says it’s a no-burn day, we don’t allow burning,” said Lang.

Such was not the case when a permit holder, identified by fire authorities as Rosalio Placencia of 18286 Quail Drive in Pauma Valley, started a fire in an avocado grove and accidentally touched off the mammoth Palomar Mountain Fire. William L. Harville, an Orange County dentist, was identified as owner of the avocado grove by Capt. John Adkins, who is heading the investigation of the fire.

Denies Burning Caused Fire

Attempts to reach both men were unsuccessful, but Placencia told the San Diego Tribune Friday that his burning did not spark the blaze. “I put a lot of water on the flames. I came back and everything was on fire,” the newspaper quoted Placencia as saying.

According to Adkins and Steven D. Robertson, a state forestry fire prevention supervisor, Placencia had obtained numerous burn permits in the past “with no incidents.”

Last Saturday, Placencia burned debris from an avocado grove that was being dug up, and he finished burning before 10 a.m., as required by law, Adkins said. It appeared that Placencia had raked the coals and put enough water on the embers, he added.

By 3 p.m. temperatures in the area had shot to as high as 105 degrees and reignited the embers, while hot Santa Ana winds blew them 70 feet to where the 15,800 acres fire began, said Adkins.

Not Clear of Liability

Both Adkins and Robertson said that the fire was accidental, but that does not necessarily clear Placencia and Harville from liability. The permit was also a contract that bound Placencia to “do everything reasonable and prudent to stop the fire from spreading,” said Adkins.

The case is still under investigation and it is possible that misdemeanor criminal charges may be filed against Placencia and Harville, said Robertson. The state will probably file a civil suit against the pair to force them to pay toward the cost of fighting the fire, which totaled $1.7 million as of Thursday.

Fire authorities said that burn permits are usually issued for 14 days, and permit holders have to check daily with the local forestry office to find out if the APCD is allowing the public to burn that day. But even if the APCD decides that weather conditions are excellent for a burn day, those same factors of temperature, wind and humidity could lead to a disastrous fire, Lang said.

Paul Sidhu of the San Diego County APCD agreed.

OK for Burning

“Saturday (when the fire began) was a permission burn day. Even if we had known on Friday that a Santa Ana condition was going to exist on Saturday, we still would have issued a permission burn day . . . The Santa Ana conditions, with a steady wind blowing, means good (smog) dispersion and that doesn’t pose a problem to air quality. Our only concern is air pollution,” said Sidhu.

However, the Santa Ana winds began blowing suddenly on Saturday. Meteorologist Ray Robben, with the National Weather Service in San Diego, said that warm temperatures had been predicted for last weekend but the intensity of the Santa Ana winds and 105-degree temperatures in the Palomar Mountain area “caught everybody by surprise.”

Adkins said that Santa Ana weather conditions do not “preclude the issuance of a burning permit.”

However, if a permit is issued while the Santa Ana winds are blowing, local forestry officials can tell permit holders that “it’s OK to burn, but we really would rather that you wait until it cools down,” said Lang.

Alert Considered Cumbersome

Red flag advisories, when all burning is prohibited, are cumbersome and time consuming, said Lang. For example, a red flag alert did not go out in San Diego County until Sunday, one day after the Palomar Mountain fire began, and the second day of the Santa Ana weather conditions that gripped the county for four days last week. The alert lasted until Monday.

“When we suspend permits from Sacramento, it takes several hours to a whole day for the public to become advised. The time lag factor is so great that if tomorrow is going to be a no-burn day, if we put out the advisory right now, most people still wouldn’t find out until tomorrow,” said Lang.

The entire state was under a red flag alert during the first two weeks in September, when firefighters from across the state were busy putting out lightning fires in Northern California.

Lang said that state officials are looking for ways to modify the permit system so local fire agencies can be given authority to proclaim no-burn days. Currently, only fire agencies in Placer County are given that authority, Lang said.

More Input Wanted

“Local fire agencies should be allowed more input in the process so burn days can be declared not only on the basis of air quality, but also on the basis of fire prevention . . . The system is not in place right now to turn on or turn off burning on a daily basis. We are looking into ways to set up that system in each county,” said Lang.

Under the current system, when red flag alerts are issued for an area, local forestry officials have to petition the department director in Sacramento to issue the alert. Occasional long-term red flag advisories are also issued when forestry officials are advised of “extremely bad weather conditions that are upcoming,” Lang said.

Meanwhile, fire officials Friday reported that the fire is 68% contained. CDF fire information officer Cele Cundari said the fire was to be contained by Wednesday. Firefighters are using bulldozers to cut a wide firebreak around the flames and are back-burning about 3,600 acres, CDF fire information officer Gregg said. It is hoped that the control burn will move toward the blaze and burn out where both fires meet.

On Thursday, forestry officials said that there had been 78 injuries reported among firefighters. However, on Friday they said that only 21 injuries have been treated and blamed the higher figure on a miscalculation based on the number of first-aid kits that were requested from the base camp.

Times staff writer Billie Sutherland contributed to this story.