Line construction and backfires strategy in battle to tame blaze

Anthony Breznican

Thursday, Sept. 2, 1999 | 10:50 a.m.

FAWNSKIN, Calif. - Bulldozers and handcrews gouged clearings and firefighters torched woodlands today to create buffer zones between alpine resorts and the West's largest wildfire, raging unchecked for six days.

The battle against the 60,100-acre Willow blaze, which started as a campfire, was focused on the northeast flank five to six miles away from the Big Bear Lake and Lucerne Valley areas. No homes were in danger.

Twelve desert homes in Apple Valley were destroyed during the initial stages of the fire, which began Saturday. It was 35 percent contained, or surrounded, today.

"Firefighters are concentrating on line construction and structure protection. Backfiring north of Green Valley Lake is continuing," said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Kristel Johnson.

Controlled fires near Fawnskin, Big Bear Lake and Green Valley Lake areas on Wednesday were a success, she said.

The fight was being aided by light winds, higher humidity and lower temperatures, ranging from 75 to 80 degrees at the 7,000-foot level.

The 95-square-mile fire, located 90 miles east of Los Angeles, was one of a half-dozen large fires in California. Six other significant wildfires were burning in Montana, Utah and Idaho, where a 35,118-acre grass blaze near the Snake River community of Glenns Ferry was contained Wednesday night.

President Clinton ordered that federal disaster aid be made available for California's Butte, Shasta, Tehama and Tuolumne counties, all struck by wildfires last month. Damage surveys were continuing and other areas could qualify for aid later on.

The Willow blaze prompted area legislators to ask California Gov. Gray Davis to declare an emergency in San Bernardino County.

In Fawnskin, where 380 people live year-round, resident Ron Shanahan, 44, stood outside the Gold Pan restaurant watching smoke rise dramatically over a ridge two miles away.

"I think it could take out half of this town," he said, gesturing to the small wooden shops and cabins lining the edge of Big Bear Lake.

"I don't know what will happen to us if that wind decides to come our way," Shanahan added. "We're not sure whether we should start packing yet. I mean, how can you even start to pack up 30 years of your life?"

Some said they had faith Wednesday's firefighting efforts would protect the town and planned to stay as long as possible.

"It's just silly to panic and run," Gold Pan owner Barbara Aker told neighbors outside the restaurant. "But it's a good idea to have your valuables, your pictures, your money and your deed packed and ready to go."

"Although, what good is a deed if the fire comes?" she added.

On Wednesday, giant pine trees exploded in flames a few miles from Green Valley Lake, a resort hamlet at the 8,000-foot level not far from Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake.

Green Valley Lake fire Capt. Rick Mull, 43, said he has never seen a fire of such magnitude come near the town. Most of the residents were either scrambling to pack their belongings or volunteered to help fight the blaze, he said.

"The worst part is that everybody is so tired," Mull said, rubbing bloodshot eyes. "But everyone in the town is coming together to help us and help each other."

The bed-and-breakfast, camping and boating resort has about 350 full-time residents and many were staying despite a voluntary evacuation alert.

Talk among locals centered on the fire's impact on tourism over the Labor Day weekend. The final weekend of summer usually brings 500 people to Green Valley Lake.

"I don't know if the fire is going to get up here, but I'm getting calls from people who want to cancel their vacation," said Ted Fogel, who works at a cabin rental firm.

"We've had a couple people cancel and a lot more are thinking about it," said Kathy O'Loughlin, a clerk at Lake Arrowhead's historic Saddleback Inn. "But the fire isn't burning near here anymore. You can see it but you can't smell it and it's not a threat."

One visitor Tuesday night was so concerned that he slept in his clothes for a quick getaway if necessary, she said.

Down in Lucerne Valley, fire blackened Barbara Jo Jones' 35 acres of remote desert land at the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains, but her home, goats and iguana were saved by firefighters.

"They are our heroes," she said Wednesday. "I don't think I've ever had a hero before. We gave them coffee; they gave us our property."

Southern California firefighters also battled flames in the San Gabriel Mountains, where a blaze on 7,000 acres of Angeles National Forest was 35 percent contained today. And in Riverside County, the 3,300-acre Mixing fire was 100 percent surrounded Wednesday evening, with control expected Sunday.

Northern California firefighters struggled with clusters of wildfires started by lightning storms on Sunday.

The 27,100-acre High Complex fires in the Shasta-Trinity area, 19 lightning-ignited blazes burning in a cluster 22 miles north of Redding, was 85 percent surrounded with containment expected Saturday.

The 6,180-acre Big Bar Complex fires 28 miles northwest of Weaverville was 16 percent contained. The complex is a cluster of five fires ranging from one to 3,000 acres. The 16,334-acre Mount Hough ranger district cluster of five fires in Plumas National Forest was 10 percent contained.