The Freeway Complex Fire was a 2008

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

in the Santa Ana Canyon area of Orange County,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. The fire started as two separate fires on November 15, 2008. The ''Freeway Fire'' started first shortly after 9am with the ''Landfill Fire'' igniting approximately 2 hours later. These two separate fires merged a day later and ultimately destroyed 314 residences in

Anaheim Hills Anaheim Hills is a planned community encompassing the eastern portions of the city of Anaheim, in Orange County, California. History Prior to the development, a few scattered low-density neighborhoods existed in the area, including Peralta Hills ...

and

Yorba Linda Yorba Linda is a suburban city in northeastern Orange County, California, United States, approximately Ordinal directions, southeast of Downtown Los Angeles. It is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, and had a population of 68,336 at th ...

Events

The Freeway Fire ignited at 9:01 a.m. PDT on November 15, 2008, along the Riverside Freeway ( State Route 91, SR 91) in the riverbed of the

Santa Ana River The Santa Ana River is the largest river entirely within Southern California in the United States. It rises in the San Bernardino Mountains and flows for most of its length through San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, before cutting throug ...

, located in

Corona Corona (from the Latin for 'crown') most commonly refers to: * Stellar corona, the outer atmosphere of the Sun or another star * Corona (beer), a Mexican beer * Corona, informal term for the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, which causes the COVID-19 di ...

. The fire spread west and north into the hillsides of

and south into

, where multiple businesses and residences were destroyed. It also burned homes in Olinda Ranch along Carbon Canyon Road in Brea, burned through much of

Chino Hills The Chino Hills are a mountain range on the border of Orange, Los Angeles, and San Bernardino counties, California, with a small portion in Riverside County. The Chino Hills State Park preserves open space and habitat in them. Geography The ...

, then spread north into

Diamond Bar Diamond Bar is a city in eastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2010 census it had a population of 55,544, and in 2019 the population was estimated to be 55,720. It is named after the "diamond over a bar" branding iron re ...

. The Landfill Fire, also known as the "Brea Fire," was reported at 10:43 a.m. PDT on November 15, 2008, and started near the 1900 block of Valencia Avenue in Brea, just south of the Olinda Landfill. It quickly spread west and eventually jumped the Orange Freeway ( SR 57). The Landfill Fire merged with the Freeway Fire at 3:30 a.m. PDT on November 16, 2008. At approximately 7:00 a.m. PDT the two fires were officially renamed the Triangle Complex Fire. Around 12:45 p.m. the Triangle Complex Fire had been renamed once again to the Freeway Complex Fire still using the OCFA incident number CA-ORC-08075221. According to the final cause report released by the

California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) is the fire department of the California Natural Resources Agency in the U.S. state of California. It is responsible for fire protection in various areas under state responsi ...

(CAL FIRE) on January 4, 2010, it was confirmed that the Freeway Fire was caused by a faulty

catalytic converter A catalytic converter is an exhaust emission control device that converts toxic gases and pollutants in exhaust gas from an internal combustion engine into less-toxic pollutants by catalyzing a redox reaction. Catalytic converters are usual ...

Effects

Over a dozen schools were closed during the fire, including those in the

Brea Olinda Unified School District Brea Olinda Unified School District is the school district serving the City of Brea in Orange County, California, United States. It also serves portions of the nearby cities of Fullerton, Yorba Linda and La Habra. The school district consis ...

, Chino Valley Unified School District,

schools in the Walnut Valley Unified School District, Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District and Walnut Valley Unified School District. About 40,000 residents were evacuated during the fire. Areas under mandatory evacuation during the fires included

Anaheim Anaheim ( ) is a city in northern Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States Census, the city had a population of 346,824, making it the most populous city in Orange County, the 10th-most ...

, Carbon Canyon,

and

As the fire spread, it forced the closure of the Riverside Freeway (SR 91), the

Chino Valley Freeway Chino or El Chino may refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Chino'' (1973 film), an Italian film starring Charles Bronson * ''Chino'' (1991 film), a Nepali film Places * Chino, California, a city in San Bernardino County, California, US ...

(SR 71), the 241 Transportation Corridor and the Orange Freeway (SR 57) in northern Orange County. It was calculated that were burned during the fire, which included 90% of

Chino Hills State Park Chino Hills State Park is a state park of California, in the United States. It is located in the Chino Hills, foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains. It is a critical link in the Chino– Puente Hills wildlife corridor, and a major botanical ...

. The calculated acreage burned would make the fire the fourth largest fire on record in Orange County History behind the 1967 Paseo Grande Fire, Steward Fire of 1958 and the Green River Fire of 1948.

Causes

The preliminary cause of the Freeway Fire was thought to be the result of a vehicle exhaust system igniting roadside vegetation. The fire investigation report was completed by the end of March 2009. According to the final cause report released by

CAL FIRE The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE) is the fire department of the California Natural Resources Agency in the U.S. state of California. It is responsible for fire protection in various areas under state responsi ...

on January 4, 2010, the cause of the fire was a faulty catalytic converter. The Landfill Fire was investigated by the

Brea Police Department Brea (; Spanish for "tar") is a city in northern Orange County, California. The population as of the 2010 census was 39,282. It is southeast of Los Angeles. Brea is part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The city began as a center of c ...

, along with investigators from the OCFA. The fire was determined to have been caused by inadequate maintenance of power lines supplying electricity to equipment in the

Brea-Olinda Oil Field The Brea-Olinda Oil Field is a large oil field in northern Orange County and Los Angeles County, California, along the southern edge of the Puente Hills, about four miles (6 km) northeast of Fullerton, and adjacent to the city of Brea. D ...

. The electrical lines were owned by the BreitBurn Management Company in Los Angeles. Investigators believe arcing or a discharge of electric current from the power lines caused the brush near the lines in the fields northeast of Valencia Avenue and Carbon Canyon Road to ignite.

References

External links

''Freeway Complex Fire After Action Report'' AddendumOrange County Register Fire CentralCA-ORC-Freeway Complex
{{Yorba Linda, California Wildfires in Orange County, California Wildfires in Riverside County, California 2008 California wildfires Anaheim, California Yorba Linda, California November 2008 events in the United States

Events

Effects

Causes

See also

References

External links