Kinneloa Fire

By October 1993, California had experienced a full six years of severe drought between 1986 and 1992, which contributed to a build-up of dead and dry brush in Southern California. This was followed by a wet winter in 1992–1993, which allowed new grass and brush to grow in the spring and then dry out once more by October. Southern California mountain vegetation is rife with plant species like chamise and manzanita, which comprise chaparral, the flammable oils of which and resins slow to rot or decay make it one of the most fire-prone plant communities. On October 27, 1993, the National Park Service morning report read: The red flag warnings in Southern California were due to forecast Santa Ana winds—a regular meteorological phenomenon in the autumn, generated when a high-pressure system builds in the Great Basin. The system pushes air clockwise, downwards from the northeast into the Los Angeles Basin, heating and drying it as it descends. The airmass also accelerates as it is forced through gaps in the mountains or over ridges, creating strong downslope winds. Studies of historical charcoal records indicate that large wildfires driven by Santa Ana winds have long been a natural part of chaparral landscapes in Southern California, even accounting for human-driven changes in fire suppression and fire ignitions over time. In addition to the forecast winds of , temperatures on October 27 were forecast to reach around . The overall resulting weather pattern concerned regional fire officials, and the Angeles National Forest was closed to recreational usage between October 27 and 29. The Kinneloa Fire was one of a rash of wildfires that broke out across Southern California in late October 1993, most of them driven by the same episode of Santa Ana winds. These included the Laguna Fire in Orange County, the Green Meadow Fire in Ventura County, the Ortega Fire in Riverside County, and several others. == Progression ==

October 27 The Kinneloa Fire ignited before dawn on the morning of October 27, 1993. Andres Huang, 35, was homeless and sleeping in a small grove of pine trees adjacent to the Mount Wilson Toll Road, roughly halfway between Eaton Canyon and Henninger Flats, on the slopes of the San Gabriel Mountains above northeastern Altadena. Huang woke up cold and built a small fire from pine needles and twigs to warm himself, but the fire escaped the circle of stones he had lit it in almost immediately. He attempted to smother the fire, but it had grown too large, and Huang fled. and shortly thereafter both departments entered unified command with the Forest Service. County firefighters arrived on scene by 3:56 a.m., reporting a "creeping" fire in steep terrain. The Forest Service requested two helicopters for dropping water at first light. By 4:45 a.m., the fire was still only . The incident command requested air tankers. Around 5:30 a.m., the fire trapped and overran 15 firefighters on the toll road, though the deployment of fire shelters prevented any serious injuries. The incident command post relocated to Victory Park. However, to the gratitude of fire officials, the predicted gusts of did not materialize. The fire was 50 percent contained by the night of October 29, as firefighters shored up multiple flanks: to the west, above Altadena, they set a backfire to strengthen control lines along Chaney Trail, which stopped the fire from continuing into Millard Canyon and threatening Jet Propulsion Laboratory and The Meadows subdivision. To the east, they used dozers to widen a large firebreak on the ridge between Little Santa Anita Canyon, with the most fire activity, and Big Santa Anita Canyon, which contained dozens of summer cabins and from which the fire might have threatened Sierra Madre. These efforts were supported by aircraft dropping water and fire retardant, including Boeing CH-47 Chinook helicopters—their use a first for Los Angeles County—and Lockheed C-130 Hercules fixed-wing aircraft. By October 31, the fire was 95 percent contained, and on November 1, the Kinneloa Fire was declared 100 percent contained. At peak staffing, at least 2,100 firefighters had worked to contain it. == Effects ==

Landsat 5 satellite image from NASA & USGS shows the Kinneloa burn scar on December 16, 1993. Casualties The Kinneloa Fire caused at least 38 minor injuries, at least 29 of them to firefighters. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office considered bringing involuntary manslaughter charges against Huang for Wagner's death but ultimately declined to do so. Two fatalities occurred when, after rains the following March, a father and son on a hike were killed by debris flows in a narrow canyon in the burn area above Sierra Madre. John Henderson, 33, and Matthew, 9, were on an outing in Bailey Canyon when a presumed cloudburst over the scorched burn area led to a sudden and violent flash flood. Their bodies were swept into the Bailey Canyon Wilderness Park debris basin, and an exhaustive day-and-night excavation using bulldozers, backhoes, and dump trucks took 15 days to locate their remains under of mud. Arguing that the Kinneloa Fire was a proximate cause of the debris flow, Los Angeles County officials applied for aid from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to fund the search. Damage The fire ultimately burned 196 structures. Of these, 121 were houses, including the Pasadena home of football coach Johnnie Lynn and the former residence of naturalist John Burroughs. An additional 40 homes were damaged. The fire impinged on, but did not burn, the ranch and art colony of bohemian artist Jirayr Zorthian in Altadena. Many houses that burned in the Kinneloa Fire were highlighted by firefighters as being particularly susceptible to destruction because of their flammable wood shingle roofs. Cal Fire officials and others called the Kinneloa Fire an example of the "fire of the future", referring to wildfires burning near inhabited areas that could not be countered with common indirect firefighting tactics. Multiple California politicians, including Senator Dianne Feinstein and Governor of California Pete Wilson, came to survey the damage in Altadena and Kinneloa Mesa. In response to the wildfire outbreak, on October 28 President Bill Clinton declared five California counties disaster areas, including Los Angeles County, and promised federal assistance. He sent FEMA director James Lee Witt, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt, and Secretary of Agriculture Mike Espy to Southern California to help coordinate emergency management and recovery efforts. The Kinneloa Fire cost approximately $65.5 million (~$ million in ), with $58.5 million (~$ million in ) sustained in losses, plus nearly $7 million (~$ million in ) spent on the suppression of the fire. At the time, the Kinneloa Fire was the twelfth most destructive wildfire in recorded California history, and though it has since fallen, it remains one of the most destructive wildfires in the history of Los Angeles County. Post-fire landscape impacts After the fire, more than of recreational trails and roads in Angeles National Forest were closed and not reopened until spring. Less than a week after the fire, county workers spread a mixture of seeds over of the burn area. The seed mix included California poppies, deer weed, 'Cucamonga' California brome, rose clover, and rye grass, the last of which environmentalists opposed because it was not native to the area. The process was deemed necessary because of the risk of floods and debris flows: according to a member of the government rehabilitation team for the Kinneloa Fire burn area, approximately 80 percent of the footprint burned at a high severity, leaving no vegetation to help hold the steep hillsides together. In the March following the fire, the National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for parts of Altadena and Sierra Madre at risk from debris flows from the burn area. Many residents evacuated, including most of the residents of Pasadena Glen, a canyon neighborhood immediately east of Kinneloa Mesa. Around of material collected in the Kinneloa debris retention basin, one of several, over the following winter. == Legal proceedings ==

Sheriff's deputies found and arrested Huang at 6:45 a.m., more than three hours after the fire had started, and he was arraigned on October 29. He was injured from running down the hillside through brush, disoriented, and severely dehydrated. He also spoke no English, complicating efforts by police to understand his story. Born in China, Huang had been a successful local official but was disillusioned by Chinese Communist Party crackdowns following the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. He fled to Peru, leaving behind a wife and daughter, and worked for an electronics company in Lima. In 1993 he volunteered to establish a U.S. branch of the company and arrived in Los Angeles with a worker's visa. While staying in a hotel, Huang fell and suffered a major head injury, losing consciousness. Over the following weeks he began experiencing severe paranoia and recurring blackouts, losing his job. Huang could not even recall how he had ended up on the mountainside where he started the campfire. Metropolitan State Hospital psychiatrists later diagnosed Huang with multiple conditions, including major depression, schizophrenia, and brain lesions. On December 21 Huang was released from jail and sentenced to three years of probation under the condition that he receive treatment at a residential treatment center. == See also ==