Carbon Canyon Vegetation Reduction Program

The Chino Valley Fire District, with funds provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has been engaged in a long-term project to reduce vegetation that provide fuels for fires near residential areas with Carbon Canyon.  Removing this vegetation through wide fire breaks is an important component of a comprehensive fire protection program engaged in by the district.  It also represents a continuing evolution in fire prevention and fire fighting planning over the years.

The accompanying aerial map, developed by department inspector Kevin Smith, identifies the work zone starting on the east at Vellano and moving its way behind the Western Hills Oaks and Mountain View Estates subdivisions on the southern side of Carbon Canyon Road and then southwestward towards Sleepy Hollow. 

This Chino Valley Fire District aerial map, created by department inspector Kevin Smith, shows the Carbon Canyon Vegetation Reduction Program work zone in yellow, blue and green (these colors indicating work completed and in progress), as well as a thin red line snaking largely horizontally across the map that represents the reach of the November 2008 Freeway Complex Fire, which encircled Sleepy Hollow yet suddenly shifted before the community was consumed.

The zone then crosses to the north side of the state highway at the county line and moving northward from Sleepy Hollow to the west end of what will be the Forestar Canyon Hills development, a 76-unit housing project just started off Canyon Hills Road, and then up and around the eastern flank of the St. Joseph's Hill of Hope religious institution and the western edge of the Oak Tree Downs subdivision.

Those areas in yellow represent locations in which work has been completed, including those sections near Vellano and above Western Hills Oaks, along Carbon Canyon Road between Mountain View Estates and Sleepy Hollow and most of the southern boundary of the latter and, on the north side of the Canyon, a section next to Sleepy Hollow, as well as the areas around Oak Tree Downs.

There are still areas to be completed, specifically the southwest corner of Sleepy Hollow, where the terrain is steep and difficult to access and some of the territory between St. Joseph's Hill of Hope and Forestar Canyon Hills, where the folks at the Hill of Hope have done their own intensive fire break work.

Also of note is the thin red line snaking through the map:  this is the extent to which the Freeway Complex Fire of November 2008 made its advances into this portion of Carbon Canyon.  Obviously, the fire came extremely close to portions of Western Hills Parks, the Mountain View Estates tract, all of Sleepy Hollow, and came quite close to the Hill of Hope's compound, which is along the San Bernardino/Los Angeles county line.  The San Bernardino County line is the thick dark one at the edge of this detail.

While this presence of the red line showing the incursion of that massive fire demonstrates the need for this vegetation reduction project, and all manner of other means to reduce fuel, it should also be remembered that the fire abruptly changed course just as it bore down on the upper reaches of Sleepy Hollow.  Residents remembered fire fighting personnel getting ready to either leave the area, because the fire was not defendable, or looking to defend to the extent possible before pulling back, when there was a sudden change in winds that pushed the flames in a different direction.

Moreover, sparks can travel a mile or more and create other fires, especially in high wind episodes like that found in the Santa Ana wind-aided conflagration of November 2008.  This means that the best fire breaks possible may not protect communities in the canyon from being consumed by fire.  That said, this project is a worthy effort to do what can be done to provide a line of defense against wildfires.

Given 2013's infamy as having, at 3.89 inches of rain in Los Angeles, the lowest rainfall year since official records were begun in 1877, and the fact that we've been ensnared in a long-term drought pattern, continued efforts at fire protection are essential.  Because, a fire like that of 2008 and 1990 and 1978 and 1958 and 1929 (and others) will occur again within Carbon Canyon.

Adding more houses, like the 76-unit Forestar Canyon Hills and the last phases of Elements on the north side of Western Hills Golf Course, as well as future projects like the 24-unit tract that has been approved east of Western Hills below Carbon Canyon Road and possible approvals for the 162-unit Madrona project and the unsubmitted tract south of Carbon Canyon Road between Sleepy Hollow and Mountain View Estates, all raise further issues.

These include more people to evacuate, more area to cover for firefighting personnel, more water to use for fire suppression, and more buildings that could burn.  This is why further large-scale development in Carbon Canyon, along with traffic impacts, loss of rapidly disappearing native habitat, pollution, and others, is simply not good public policy.  Carbon Canyon is an extreme fire zone and adding potentially 350-400 more units will be, for that and the other reasons given, does not improve the quality of life here, it diminishes it.

Second Weekend of Freeway Complex Fire Exhibit at Chino Hills State Park

Following on the heels of last weekend's opening of an exhibit, sponsored by Hills for Everyone, at the Chino Hills State Park Discovery Center commemorating the fifth anniversary of the Freeway Complex Fire of November 2008, the second and final weekend of the showing is this Saturday and Sunday the 23rd and 24th from 9:00 a.m. to Noon.

These .pdf files of exhibit boards shown at the Chino State Park Discovery Center exhibit to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the 2008 Freeway Complex Fire are courtesy of Hills for Everyone.  Click on a photo to see it and the others show here in a larger view in a separate window.

There is plenty of interesting and informative material to view, including photos, videos, articles and reports dealing specifically with the devastating conflagration, but also fire issues generally.  Exhibit boards showing what happened during and after the fire also provide good visual snapshots of the events of half a decade back.

As noted before, the spate of hillside housing projects like Madrona in Brea and two others in Yorba Linda, now that the economy has grown enough for developers to start selling their wares again in fire-sensitive areas, makes this exhibit timelier than ever. 

The Madrona project, calling for 162 upscale houses on 367 acres, has burned FIVE time in the last several decades.  Yorba Linda experienced devastating home losses in 2008 yet new projects continue to be pitched for areas that will burn again.

Exhibits like this give graphic and vivid testimony to the perils of continuing to build houses in wildfire-prone regions.  As the Madrona project inches closer to a final decision on the appeal of the Brea Planning Commission's narrow (3-2, one of the commissioners who voted for the project resigned this past August and now represents Madrona as a public relations consultant!) approval just weeks before the Freeway Complex Fire erupted. it becomes increasingly necessary for people to become more aware of the wildfire risk.

Thanks to Hills for Everyone for taking the time and effort to provide this important public service.

Freeway Complex Fire Exhibit at Chino Hills State Park

This image and several below are boards put together by Hills for Everyone for the events held this weekend and next at the Chino Hills State Park Discovery Center commemorating the 5th anniversary of the Freeway Complex Fire of 2008.  Click on any image here to see it in a larger view in a separate window.

This weekend marked the fifth anniversary of the Freeway Complex Fire of November 2008, an event that burned almost the entirety of Chino Hills State Park and the Brea side of Carbon Canyon, while threatening to overwhelm Sleepy Hollow and other areas of the Chino Hills portion of the canyon before the flames were suddenly diverted and headed elsewhere.

Hills for Everyone, the non-profit that was instrumental in the creation of the state park and which continues to work for the preservation of open space in the area, held this Saturday and Sunday the first of its two weekends of exhibits at the state park's Discovery Center.  Components of the event included display boards showing the fire, the results, and the recovery; newspaper articles covering the conflagration; reports dealing with the blaze and with wildfire issues generally; videos of the fire and of wildfire matters in the region; material from the Carbon Canyon Fire Safe Council and Hills for Everyone; and more.

It appears that visitation was strong over both days and it is hoped that it will continue to be so next weekend, the 23rd and 24th, when the event is held again.  For those who live in or near Carbon Canyon or in or near areas susceptible to wildfires and their effects, the event and its exhibits are essential.

Viewing the exhibits are also important to the further understanding of how the relentless push, mediated somewhat by economic downturns and then revitalized by recovery, for new housing developments in fire-sensitive areas continues to be of concern.

This is true at the moment with the ill-conceived, but still possible, Madrona (formerly Canyon Crest) project of 162 houses on 367 acres on the Brea side of Carbon Canyon between Olinda Village and Sleepy Hollow, a project that sits on a site that has burned several times in recent decades and that will again (and one which has a whole host of other problems, as has been discussed before and will be more).  Tuesday the 19th, in fact, is when a staff report on the status of the Madrona project will be presented to the Brea city council, preliminary to hearings in late January and into February that will lead to a vote by that body on the appeal to the narrow 3-2 Planning Commission decision to approve of the then-Canyon Crest project--a decision that came just before the disastrous Freeway Complex Fire.

There are also two approved projects totaling 100 houses on the Chino Hills side, an application for another there that would be involve more units than that, and other in-process projects in Yorba Linda, a city that experienced significant destruction of homes in hillside areas during the 2008 fires, yet which continues to be builder-friendly.

Further off in the future, there is also the Shell-Aera properties in unincorporated Orange and Los Angeles counties north and west of Brea, which will certainly be the location of more housing projects.  And, who knows what the future portends for Tonner Canyon, almost all held by the City of Industry and some of which is not far north of Carbon Canyon.

Huge wildfires continue to be a problem throughout the western United States, much less our area.  The effects of climate change almost certainly will continue to be brought to bear, including through long-term drought that creates conditions for larger and more devastating wildfires, less water supply, and other effects.  To discount this and to act as if housing projects in wildfire-prone areas can somehow be conducted under old models, standards and conditions is not just bad public policy, it is a dangerous folly.

A long weekend last week in Julian reiterated the problems.  In 2003, the massive Cedar fire consumed a staggering 15% of the land area of San Diego County (this blogger was just leaving San Diego when that conflagration broke out and drove out on I-15 as flames roared nearby.)  In Julian and surrounding areas, the devastation was significant.  A hike in the Santa Ysabel Land Preserve featured a couple of display panels chronicling the devastation of the fire and the fact that wildfires are to be expected in backcountry areas--except that the human presence continues to grow, as it has over the last several decades in Carbon Canyon and its environs.

This photo and the one below are from text panels at the Santa Ysabel Land Preserve near Julian in San Diego County and discuss the effects of the 2003 Cedar Fire on the local area.

Certainly, those of us living in existing dwellings in the Canyon accept the consequences, as do the folks in Julian, for residing in a wildfire zone.  This doesn't mean, though, the local officials are exempt from the responsibility of carefully considering consequences when deciding to approve housing projects.  Land owners and developers don't have to worry about those consequences.  They reap the short-term rewards and leave the long-term issues for the cities and counties to deal with (or not, in some cases.)

There is a tipping point--and it's not just fire risk.  It is also decreasing habitat, increasing traffic, growing and often wasteful water use, landslide of unstable slopes, and more.   But, fire becomes the preeminent health and safety hazard and government, whose primary responsibility is (or should be) the health and safety of their constituents, should be mindful of this before approving housing projects in dangerous locations.

Events like the one held by Hills for Everyone this weekend and next bring needed attention to the question.  Anyone concerned ought to go, see the exhibits, talk to those staffing the room and become better educated.  It's vital for the future of Carbon Canyon and nearby areas.

Freeway Complex Fire Anniversary Events Coming Up

Courtesy of the good people at Hills For Everyone, there will be a special event commemorating the fifth anniversary of the Freeway Complex Fire of November 2008 at the Chino Hills State Park Discovery Center at 4500 Carbon Canyon Road in Brea.  The event will take place over the next two weekends, Saturday and Sunday 16 and 17 and 23 and 24 November from 9 a.m. to Noon with free parking for those visiting the center during the program.

Courtesy of Hills for Everyone.

There will be videos, photos, maps, news articles and other material documenting the effects of the massive fire, which broke out off the 91 Freeway in Anaheim Hills and quickly moved north, destroying many structures in Anaheim Hills and Yorba Linda before charring 95% of Chino Hills State Park, while another fire that erupted in the hills above Brea moved eastward. 

The two burned substantial portions of the Brea side of Carbon Canyon, destroying the Manely Friends stable complex and coming very close to Hollydale Mobile Home Estates and residences in Olinda Village and completely burning the site where the Madrona (formerly Canyon Crest) housing project has been proposed for many years and an appeal of which is to be heard by the Brea City Council in January and February--this site has actually been hit by wildfires five times in the last 46 years.

On the Chino Hills side of Carbon Canyon, the fire didn't have the impact that it did to the west, although flames got dangerously close to the community of Sleepy Hollow before suddenly and providentially taking a turn to the east.  Many residents of the canyon spent up to three nights under mandatory evacuation orders and greater preparation by residents, fire departments, city staff and other authorities helped make the response far superior than during the previous major fires including those in 1990, 1978, 1958 and 1929, as well as many lesser ones.

Fire season in our region is now year round and the threat of another massive blaze like that of 2008 is always present, especially with another low rainfall year and dry, windy conditions from the Santa Ana effect coming around this time of year (and, in fact, right now.)  For the existing residents of Carbon Canyon, it is vital to be as prepared and fire-wise as possible and for planners in Brea, Chino Hills, Orange and San Bernardino counties and the state, smart public policy in terms of future development, fire preparation, emergency access and other matters becomes more critical.

So, this event by Hills for Everyone is an important one to attend for all those who live in Carbon Canyon and/or are curious to know about the wildfire threat and history of the region.  For more on the organization, click here.