Newport responds first to area car fire

El Morro Elementary School students were rushed indoors Monday when a car burst into flames on North Coast Highway in front of the school.

The fire ignited road-side brush next to the playground during the school’s lunchtime. School staff worked quickly to bring students indoors from the smoke.

“The staff was great, they adjusted their plans and kept the kids safe,” said El Morro Principal Chris Duddy.

Firefighters quickly contained the fire, preventing the fire from spreading into adjacent wilderness parks. There was no damage to the school.

Trace Klug, who’s daughter is an El Morro first-grader, said she was concerned with the firefighter’s response time. Klug said it was about 15 minutes before the first firefighters arrived.

“It just seems crazy it took 15 minutes for a fire truck to show up,” Klug said.

Division Fire Chief Jeff LaTendresse said part of the reason the area has a slower response time is because El Morro school is outside Laguna Beach city limits.

El Morro sits within unincorporated Orange County land that creates a buffer between Laguna and Newport Beach. That means a 911 call from the area goes to the Orange County Sheriff’s office, which transfers the call to the Orange County Fire Authority, which in turn calls the nearest engines to the scene, LaTendresse said.

The 911 call went directly to Newport Beach firefighters Monday because the 911 call mistakenly gave Reef Point — well within Newport city limits — as the scene of the accident.

Newport Beach firefighters responded first. They upgraded the call because of the brush fire, which sent the call to Laguna firefighters and a county reserve engine from Emerald Bay.

LaTendresse said response time was further hampered by the brush fire designation because they were required to change into special equipment.

Proximity

Not to mention it’s the furthest point in between the two cities’ fire resources.

“That area is the furthest from Laguna and Newport,” LaTendresse said.

It’s an issue Laguna’s Fire Department has recognized. LaTendresse said the department is already five months into a project that will eliminate the time it takes to make the calls to the separate fire departments.

New technology will link the Computer Aided Dispatch systems of Laguna with departments from the county and other cities. The system will calculate how many trucks and firefighters are needed for a call and send the call to stations at the same time.

LaTendresse said there is nothing the department can do about how long it takes to drive Coast Highway to the Crystal Cove area, but they will trim off time by cutting out the time it takes to make the calls to other departments.