Hundreds can return home
Day 3: Massive Coronado Pointe cleanup begins; the blaze is now 40% contained
Hundreds of Laguna Niguel residents were allowed to return to their homes Friday as firefighters made strides against the Coastal fire that destroyed 20 multimillion-dollar houses and damaged 11 others.
The 200-acre fire was 40% contained as of 6:20 p.m., up from 15% the prior evening, the Orange County Fire Authority said.
Evacuation orders were lifted from surrounding areas but remained in place for 131 homes, down from 900, the OCFA announced at 3 p.m.
Houses on streets at the core of the destruction — including Coronado Pointe, Vista Court, La Vue, La Fleur, Le Port, Via La Ro- sas and Vista Montemar — remain off limits.
The fire was in its third day Friday. Part of what allowed it to spread so quickly Wednesday in the ridgetop community of Coronado Pointe was the natural contours of the hillsides, which funneled the strong winds, said Capt. Thanh Nguyen, spokesman for the Orange County Fire Authority.
“In a wide-open space, the wind wouldn't be as concentrated, but if you channel it through a narrow passageway, that's what we were dealing with,” Nguyen said.
The channels are topographical and common to hillsides, he said.
“We can't control that,” he said.
The fire's containment jumped from 15% to 25% just before 9 a.m. Friday morning, officials said. Containment is the percentage of the perimeter that the fire won't creep beyond.
Firefighters continued assessing the damaged homes to ensure they would not collapse, Nguyen said.
“It's still dangerous, so we're making sure it's safe and we can get in there before repopulating,” Nguyen said.
As the day wore on, some residents made their way up the long winding hill of Pacific Island Drive, a few pulling luggage behind them. They came to get clothes, medicine and other necessities from homes that weren't burned to the ground.
Among them was Dawn O'Brien, who came back to her mother's home on La Vue to find medications.
The house was intact, a blessing. Both she and her sister were married in the home's backyard.
“We were the first people to move in,” she said.
The family settled there on Oct. 31, 1988.
O'Brien became emotional when she saw the house. Her brother, a Newport Beach firefighter, was among the many who battled the Coastal fire.
“He was working the fire at 2:30 a.m. and he saw it was still standing,” she said.
She recalled how as a middle schooler, he put a garden hose on a small fire that broke out on the slope behind their house until firefighters arrived.
As firefighters combed through the rubble of nearby homes, they looked for anything that might have value or significance. Along Coronado Pointe Drive, OCFA firefighter Rudy Cruz picked the remains out of a burnedout Porsche.
“If we find something,
Heavy equipment brings down the walls of a house on Coronado Pointe in Laguna Niguel on Thursday.
we'll set it to the side of the house and if they come here, they'll see it,” he said. “Any kind of pictures, art, jewelry, we'll do our best.”
Sometimes the treasure hunt pays off immeasurably.
“Yesterday, we found a wedding photo and I was just the happiest guy,” Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Sean Doran said.
“It's salvage and overhaul, “he said. “We're making sure to find the hots pots hidden in voids. If there is a hidden fire in these conditions, it can be fanned by the elements. Before we reopen the residences, we need to make sure it's safe.”
To do that, firefighters operated bulldozers and excavators through the ruins. Firefighters focused on any house that presented a “collapse-hazard.”
Personnel committed to the fire across all assisting agencies increased to 563 from 550 Friday morning.
The blaze, which sparked in dry vegetation just before 2:45 p.m. Wednesday, spread quickly uphill toward Coronado Pointe. The Coastal fire's 200-acre footprint hasn't grown since the first day.
“We're still continuing to get around (the fire's perimeter),” Nguyen said. “The acreage has not increased, so we're optimistic with that. However, the overhauling and putting out hot spots will take some time.”
Two firefighters suffered minor injuries during the firefight; they were treated and released from the hospital, OCFA Capt. Shane Sherwood said.
State Sen. Pat Bates, RLaguna Niguel, said Friday she has assurances from Gov. Gavin Newsom that resources to help in the recovery of the Coronado Pointe community are on their way.
Bates said her community, like many in Laguna Niguel, has large swaths of defensible space between the housing and the wildland in the canyons.
But she said, “When you have wind blowing 30-40 mph, it blows over the defensible space,” she said. “It's the serendipity of the wind and the embers — that's why some houses burned and others didn't.”