Santa-Ana winds push Topanga Fire toward thousands of Southern California residences

BY JUSTIN DOMBROWSKI

In late September, the Topanga Fire kicked the Santa Ana fire season into high gear. The fire, which burned along the Los Angeles–Ventura county line near Chatsworth, threatened 1,500 structures, electrical and communication equipment, rail lines, wildlife habitats and cultural resources. The fire ultimately burned 24,175 acres and destroyed three residences, three commercial buildings and seven outbuildings. More than 3,000 fire personnel battled the blaze for seven days. The cause of the fire is still undetermined.

Photo by Robert Navarro The Topanga Fire threatened more than 1,500 structures in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, prompting officials to evacuate thousands of residents.

Multi-Agency Response
The fire was first reported at approximately 1350 hrs on Sept. 28, near the Ronald Reagan Freeway (Highway 118), west of Topanga Canyon Boulevard. The flames then spread west into Ventura County, scorching 17,000 acres in the first 24 hours.

Many organizations quickly got involved in the effort to control the blaze, including the Los Angeles and Ventura county fire and sheriff’s departments, the Los Angeles city fire and police departments, the Beverly Hills Fire Department, the California Highway Patrol, the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CDF), the National Park Service, and the U.S. Forest Service.

Photo courtesy John Deleon/LACOFD Santa Ana winds pushed smoke downvalley into large communities, creating a serious air-quality issue in these areas.

A CDF Type 1 incident management team (IMT), under Incident Commander Steve Heil, established a unified command with other agencies. The CDF has 10 major IMTs, called major incident command teams  (MICTs), five each for Northern and Southern California. Two teams are on call year round to help manage any type of disaster. Each MICT has 16 trained and certified command and general staff members and 10 trainees.

For most incidents, these teams work under the direction of the local authority, which has statutory responsibility for the incident. However, when an incident occurs in a State Responsibility Area (SRA)—where the Topanga Fire erupted—the CDF teams work in unified command with other agencies, but take responsibility for the incident.
Specifically, SRA lands are those lands in California for which the State Board of Forestry and Fire Protection gives the state primary financial responsibility for preventing and suppressing fires. These areas include non-federal lands that are not incorporated into cities or other organizations.

Taking Action
On Sept. 28, after officials confirmed that the fire threatened more than 1,500 homes in suburban Los Angeles and Ventura counties, FEMA issued a Fire Management Assistance (FMA) grant to pay 75 percent of the state’s eligible firefighting costs for managing, mitigating and controlling the fire.

Firefighters conducted structure protection, burnout operations and aggressive direct attacks with the use of air support to battle the fire. They constructed 49 miles of fireline in often steep and inaccessible terrain.

Additionally, they used bulldozers to clear brush away from Highway 118 to keep the flames from crossing the highway and racing toward Malibu and the ocean. The fire burned through mostly chaparral, coastal sage scrub and annual grasses.

At the height of the incident, 84 handcrews, 388 engines, six fixed-wing aircraft, 11 helicopters and more than 2,800 firefighters, inmates and overhead personnel worked the fire. Firefighters evacuated thousands of residents and took position in the backyards of homes. Portions of the Santa Monica Mountain National Recreation Area were closed, as was the Upper Las Virgenes Open Space Preserve. The National Park Service also closed Cheeseboro Canyon, Palo Comado Canyon, Liberty Canyon and Upper Las Virgenes Canyon.

Air Quality Concerns
The Santa Ana winds, moving from the Great Basin, bring strong downslope winds to Southern California. Known also as Foehn winds, they come with high speeds, warm temperatures and low relative humidity.

During the Topanga Fire, the Santa Ana winds pushed smoke downvalley into large communities, creating air quality concerns for Southern California residents. The Los Angeles County Health Department and the South Coast Air Quality Management District issued smoke advisories and health alerts advising San Fernando Valley residents with heart or lung disease, emphysema, asthma or chronic lung problems to minimize outdoor activity. All schools in the area were encouraged to postpone outdoor sporting events and practices.

“The people I’m most concerned about are the people with health problems, people who have fragile medical conditions, particularly heart conditions,” said Jonathan Fielding, Los Angeles County director of public health. “In most cases, a limited exposure for a day or two is not going to cause long-term problems. I don’t think people need to be overly concerned, just be conservative and cautious about activities they engage in.”

Under Control
On the evening of Oct. 3, as the fire was 85 percent contained, another round of Santa Ana winds descended on the area, testing the strength of the firelines. Fortunately, the lines held, and firefighters were able to continue resource demobilization. The Topanga Fire, which cost more than $16 million to fight, was fully contained on Oct. 5.

Justin Dombrowski can be reached at dombrowskij@gmail.com.

Some information in this article was obtained from NBC4, Los Angeles.