Goats head south as fire precaution

Goats will be deployed this weekend to crop a fuel break in South Laguna where brush has not been cleared in about 10 years.

The deployment was just one of the measures taken by the Laguna Beach Fire Department to safeguard the city from the dangerous combination of high temperatures, low humidity and gusting Santa Ana winds that wreaked havoc this week in Southern California. Laguna was mercifully spared a repeat of the 1993 Firestorm, but the Fire Department was on high alert most of the week.

“Some of our people have not been home since Monday,” Acting Fire Chief Jeff LaTendresse said Thursday. “We expect to be back to normal staffing by [today]. And the goats should be in place by Saturday. This is an emergency condition.”

The California Coastal Commission, which had advised the city that it needed a permit to continue the grazing program, was notified Tuesday of LaTendresse’s intention to order the goats to the hillsides above the South Laguna parcel formerly called Driftwood Estates, now called Aliso Lots by the owner, Athens Group. He also approved the hiring by Athens Group of hand crews to clear brush from its property.

“It is a fire hazard and a fuel break has to be created,” La Tendresse said.

Top of the World and El Morro elementary schools and Thurston Middle School, all close to the wild land interface with developed areas of Laguna, were shuttered Monday, joined by Laguna Beach High School Tuesday. All four were in session Wednesday.

But LaTendresse advised residents to stay indoors or at least limit outdoor activities if possible to avoid the effects of smoke blanketing Laguna and likely to linger for days.

The fires that started Sunday in Malibu came as no surprise to LaTendresse because of the weather predictions. But for a while it seemed as if Orange County had been spared.

“I was talking on the phone to other Orange County chiefs about putting together a plan in case of a fire in the county and 30 minutes later, the Santiago Fire broke out,” LaTendresse said.

The department was ready. The number of engines in service was increased to five, including three paramedic engines, up from the usual two, and increased the crews from three to four, for a total of 20, almost double the usual complement.

Reserve firefighters, and police and Red Flag volunteers to were called to patrol the hillsides, watching for signs of fire, either from carelessness, like tossing cigarettes from a vehicle, or suspicious activity.

The city’s new Fire Prevention Officer Shelley Graham also was pressed into service Monday, her first day on the job.

“I was walking from the parking lot when an engine was sent out on a call, and they invited me to go along,” Graham said.

She has been on patrol since then.

Residents also are urged to keep their eyes open. City Manager Ken Frank said emergency calls should be made to 911, but all other calls should be directed to (949) 497-0701.

The conflagration that began Sunday in Malibu brought chills to Laguna. It was just less than a week shy of 14 years ago that Laguna and Emerald Bay were swept on a balmy October Wednesday by a tiny fire that started in Laguna Canyon, followed two days later by a fire in Malibu.

But even as residents cast wary eyes early this week at the fire in Irvine, LaTendresse worried more about a fire starting closer to home.

“The Irvine fire has to go through a lot of concrete before it reaches us,” LaTendresse said.

In fact, two of Laguna’s engines were deployed early Monday morning to assist in other areas, more direly threatened. Engine 302, a brush rig was sent to Irvine. Engine 313, the gift of the state’s Office of Emergency Services, went to Malibu, fulfilling the city’s obligation to respond with the engine to requests for assistance. A third engine was sent out later.

LaTendresse said the fires devastating Southern California validate the city’s fuel modification policy of clearing defensible space in the interface between wild lands and developed areas of town.

“If you look at the fires, homes in areas with fuel modification zones are more likely to be saved,” LaTendresse said. “And the department is recommending new building standards that will make the city safer.”

The department also recommends every resident have an evacuation plan.

“They should know what they want to take and where they want to go,” LaTendresse said.

A predetermined meeting place and a contact phone number, preferably outside the area, are also good ideas.

To be on the safe side, LaTendresse said, residents should turn on their radios, preferably battery powered in case of utility failure, during emergencies and pay attention to the instructions of emergency personnel.