Laguna lends units

As their own community waited nervously to see which way the fire winds would blow, Laguna Beach firefighters have battled fires all week in other communities since a blaze broke out Sunday in Malibu.

Slowly the firefighters are making their way back to Laguna Beach.

Fire Capt. Gary Ganger said he and his crew spent two days working in Foothill Ranch, Portola and Live Oak Canyon, where they didn’t lose a single home.

The Santiago fire has moved into the Cleveland National Forest, where it could burn for days.

But reinforcements have come in from Northern California and elsewhere, easing the burden on Orange County firefighters, Ganger said.

“We left Monday morning and worked through into Tuesday,” Ganger said. “[The Santa Ana wind] was blowing. We didn’t sleep at all Monday night, and by midnight Tuesday we found some chairs to sit in and dozed.”

The hardest duty Ganger and his crew faced was cutting a three-foot-wide fire line to prevent a backfire from burning a home, he said. They had to dig down to soil in order to provide the fire break that was needed.

Engineer Carl Klass was among the first responders to the Santiago fire, heading out as soon as the fire was reported around 5 p.m. Monday.

“It was a typical war zone and kept getting worse,” Klass said. “We were there to direct the fire, not put it out. We held the fire at Jamboree.”

Klass and his Engine 302 crew, part of a mixed strike team with four other engines from other areas, worked nonstop for 42 hours in grueling conditions. “You’ve just got to do it, the adrenaline kicks in,” he said.

The Office of Emergency Services Engine 313, a state fire apparatus, originally sent to Malibu, has been reassigned to the San Diego fire, Fire Capt. Dan Stefano said.

The state engine is expected to be out for several more days, and has been sent to help fight the Witch Fire, Stefano said.

Engine 302 has been assigned to the Santiago Fire in Orange County since Sunday; it was crewed by Stefano, Klass and firefighter Julio Pacheco and relieved Tuesday by Capt. Bob Scruggs, engineer Chip Gilmore and firefighter Adam Schulenburg.

As of Thursday morning, the crew was replaced by Capt. Patrick Brennan, engineer John Kuzmic and firefighters Ian de Costa and Scott Hammond.

Engine 3 has returned to Laguna; it was captained by Ganger and included engineer Knox Tiernan and firefighters Tom Burdik and Dirk Flores.

The department increased its staffing to exceed normal levels at each of the city’s four fire stations, and additional patrols have been working throughout the city during the fire alert, Stefano said.