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Tinder, dry countryside, Santa Ana winds,
and incendiary materials are a sure
prescription for fires such as the Paseo
Grande which swept through the Tustin
foothills in October 1967.
Photo courtesy of the Orange County Archives
Fear prevailed
over Tustin residents and their neighbors on the
day before Halloween in 1967.
All thoughts of
trick and treat, parties or costumes were
abandoned as the community anxiously watched the
dark clouds of smoke sweeping in from the
northeast. Suddenly a deep red flush crossed the
sky and waves of flames crested into the Cowan
Heights area. The wildfire that started in
Riverside County had arrived in Tustin.
Newspaper
accounts of its origin differed. One news report
said “possibly started by equestrians.” Another
claimed “believed to have been started by
children playing with matches.” Regardless of
its source, the Paseo Grande Fire, as it was
labeled, scorched 50,000 acres before it was
subdued.
The fear that
Tustin residents felt was well-deserved. As the
flames raced across the canyons between
Riverside County and Orange County in conditions
labeled “the driest season since 1887,” out -of-
control fire damaged or destroyed thousands of
acres of vegetation, hundreds of dwellings and
caused millions of dollars of damage before
firefighters were able to contain it on Nov. 2.
In the Lemon
Heights-Santa Ana Canyon-Cowan Heights area
alone 66 homes were destroyed at a collective
value of more than $2.5 million. Enforced
evacuations limited the loss of lives, but one
woman was killed when she was struck by a
runaway vehicle and at least nine other people,
including four firefighters, were injured. Fifty
cattle, horses and sheep were believed to have
perished.
Santa Ana winds
blowing at more than 50 miles an hour propelled
the flames quickly across the area. Jim Sleeper,
a Tustin resident as well as Orange County
historian, described the situation well when he
wrote in 1971 “Nothing can compare to the
devastation wrought by a santana pushing a brush
fire. Indelibly seared on the memory of
countians are such incendiary nightmares as the
Green River Fire (1948), which blackened 46,000
acres and consumed 22 homes; the Stewart (1958),
66,400 acres and 16 homes; and … the Paseo
Grande (1967), 47,639 acres and 66 homes.”
The combination
of dry conditions and Santa Ana winds has been
responsible for many fires in this area. More
than 100 conflagrations have been recorded since
the California Department of Forestry and Fire
Protection began keeping records in 1914. The
cost of these fires has run high: 1914 to 1939,
$45,686; 1931 to 1950, $64,184; 1951 to 1970,
$196,858; 1971 to 1990, $169, 643; 1991 to 2008,
$72,735.
Interestingly,
the period in which the Paseo Grande fire took
place recorded the highest dollar damage. Larry
Holmes was Orange County Fire Chief at the time
of the Paseo Grande disaster and directed
firemen from throughout the county as well as
those who came from all over the state to aid in
battling the blaze. Tustin’s combination of paid
and volunteer firemen worked around the clock
under the direction of Fire Chief Morgan Hilton
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