Sunday morning, 50 years ago, I awoke later than normal. I remember being puzzled at the light in my room at the BOQ, Naval Amphibious Base, Coronado. Maybe it was more the lack of light, or its “look.” I pulled back the curtain to the door to my deck and saw this.
This was my first exposure to California wildfire. The fire that produced this sky had started the morning before, at a reported 6:15 am, when Santa Ana winds had downed power lines that ignited brush in the Laguna Mountains in East San Diego County.
I remember going out to my car later in the day and realizing that I had left my driver-side window down overnight. The interior of my car looked like an ashtray.
The Laguna Fire moved quickly because of the Santa Ana winds, which are warm and dry and often exceed 40 miles per hour. During its first day, the Laguna Fire had burned west for 30 miles, into the outskirts of El Cajon and Spring Valley.
Santa Ana winds are typical in Southern California in the fall. They originate in the Great Basin, just east of California. They often bring about the lowest relative humidities of the year in Southern California. This, plus the often high wind speeds, causes high fire danger conditions.
There was concern within Naval Special Warfare Group, Pacific about the speed and range of the fire. I remember a map being posted on a wall, probably in the Operations spaces, where someone was tracking the boundaries of the fire. The concern was less about our location (we were separated from San Diego by about three miles of harbor) than with the Naval Base, San Diego, where dozens of ships and facilities were located. Someone said, as I recall, that if the fire crossed a nearby mountaintop, “It could go right down to the sea.”
This was in an era, of course, without many of the resources available to firefighters and to the public. Initial response to the fire was limited and slow because other fires in Southern California were using up available personnel. High wind speeds restricted use of firefighting aircraft.
As a “civilian,” at least in terms of firefighting, I remember no alarm or notification of the fire. We obtained information from local radio and television. (In comparison, when I was ordered to evacuate because of wildfire in December 2017, I received notice by email, text, and phone call. I also received frequent status updates through the same media.)
The Laguna Fire burned until October 3, 1970. By the time it was contained, it had burned 175,425 acres, killed eight civilians, and destroyed 382 homes. At its time, it was the second-largest fire, in terms of acres burned, in California history. It is now 17th, with five of the fires supplanting it taking place in 2020.