Fire ignites in windy weather

Lolita Harper

Heavy winds and soggy conditions tested local fire officials Monday

afternoon as they fought a small brush fire in the Talbert Nature

Preserve.

About 35 firefighters from Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, as well

as the Orange County Fire Authority, responded at 1:28 p.m. to a

vegetation fire on county land, near the Santa Ana River, Costa Mesa

Fire Capt. Fred Seguin said.

An engine and a truck from Costa Mesa Fire Station No. 1 were the

first to respond and Newport arrived soon after, Seguin said. Once on

the scene, officials called on a county helicopter to drop water to

the remote area, he said, and a 14-man “hand crew” to fight the fire

by shoveling dirt on top of it.

Brush fires such as this one pose different problems than

structure fires. Because there is little access to water, the winds

can change at any moment and the grass provides thick, rich fuel for

the flames, officials said.

Newport Beach spokeswoman Donna Boston said responding

firefighters fought the fire “very aggressively” before the winds

could shift and carry embers to other areas.

“When the wind shifts like that, it makes it more difficult to

anticipate how the fire is going to act,” Boston said. “The wind can

take the embers up and over the crews and light a fire behind them.”

Seguin said the brush found in the nature preserve is “thick,

little vegetation that burns hot and deep.” Fire crews wind up

spending three times as much time to make sure the flames have been

extinguished and there are no remaining hot spots, he said.

It took about an hour to get all the flames out, Seguin said, and

county crews were still cleaning up the area in the evening. Nearly a

quarter-acre of land burned at the Talbert Nature Preserve but no

structures were ever in danger.

Two boys were brought to the Costa Mesa Police station in

conjunction with the fire, Lt. Dale Birney said. At press time, he

could not confirm whether they were being questioned as possible

suspects or witnesses.