The Santiago Fire was a

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of Combustibility and flammability, combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a ...

located near

Santiago Canyon Santiago Canyon is a canyon and unincorporated community in eastern Orange County, California. According to the 2000 census, Santiago Canyon has several hundred residents living within its borders. Trabuco Canyon, Silverado Canyon, Modjeska Can ...

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

, United States, and one of thirty

California wildfires of October 2007 The October 2007 California wildfires, also known as the Fall 2007 California firestorm, were a series of about thirty wildfires (17 of which became major wildfires) that began igniting across Southern California on October 20. At least 1,500 h ...

. The fire was intentionally started.

The Fire

The blaze originated near Santiago Canyon Road at the border of Santiago Canyon and

Silverado Canyon Silverado Canyon is a roughly 2,500-foot-deep (760 m) gorge in the Santa Ana Mountains, in the U.S. state of California. The small stream it is associated with, Silverado Creek, rises on the north slope of Modjeska Peak at the elevation of and ...

at on October 21, 2007, and burned approximately . The flames threatened roughly 750 homes located throughout canyons in the area, including both Santiago and Silverado Canyon, Live Oak Canyon, Holy Jim Canyon,

Modjeska Canyon Modjeska Canyon is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) on the western slope of the Santa Ana Mountains in eastern Orange County, California. It is a suburban community of several hundred residents, with a small park a ...

, and

Trabuco Canyon Trabuco Canyon (''Trabuco'', Spanish for "Blunderbuss") is a small unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located in the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains in eastern Orange County, California, and lies partly within the Cl ...

, among others. Twelve houses were destroyed in Santiago Canyon. In Foothill Ranch, the Santiago Canyon Estates, and Portola Hills, the fire reached the back yards of houses, but no homes were destroyed in those three neighborhoods. The fire was fully contained on November 9, after reaching . According to Mike Rohde, a battalion chief with the

Orange County Fire Authority Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice * Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the ...

, controlling the fire depended solely on the wind, saying at the time, "If the wind stays normal, everything will be fine." Had it not, it would have been a "totally different story." The fire moved into the

Cleveland National Forest Cleveland National Forest is a National forest (United States), U.S. national forest in Southern California that encompasses 460,000 acres/ of inland Montane ecosystems, montane regions. It is approximately 60 miles from the Pacific Ocean, withi ...

and crossed the path of the

Santa Ana Mountains The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riversid ...

, singeing the slopes. According to the 1,100

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

s who battled the blaze, the air conditions changed from the tumultuous

Santa Ana wind The Santa Ana winds, occasionally referred to as the devil winds, are strong, extremely dry katabatic winds that originate inland and affect coastal Southern California and northern Baja California. They originate from cool, dry high-pressure a ...

s to lower temperatures, more

humid Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...

ity, and more gentle onshore winds. The fire affected

Irvine Irvine may refer to: Places On Earth Antarctica *Irvine Glacier * Mount Irvine (Antarctica) Australia * Irvine Island * Mount Irvine, New South Wales Canada * Irvine, Alberta * Irvine Inlet, Nunavut Scotland *Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotlan ...

, Foothill Ranch, and

Portola Hills Portola Hills is a district in the city of Lake Forest, California in Orange County, California, Orange County, United States. It was an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place before it was fully ...

Response

California Governor The governor of California is the head of government of the U.S. state of California. The governor is the commander-in-chief of the California National Guard and the California State Guard. Established in the Constitution of California, th ...

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

declared a

state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...

in several California counties where fires were ongoing. President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician and businessman who was the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Bush family and the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he i ...

furthered the response effort in the state by ordering federal assistance to aid with state and local efforts. The firemen were aided by units of the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

and

United States National Guard The National Guard is a U.S. state, state-based military force that becomes part of the United States Armed Forces, U.S. military's reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, reserve components of the United States Army, U.S. Army a ...

. A $250,000 reward is offered to anyone with information on the suspected arsonist(s), as the fire has been confirmed as being initiated by arson with two separate points of origin. According to Fire Authority Chief Chip Prather, "The person or people who did this are exceptionally lucky or they have some knowledge of when they can do the most damage when you set a fire."

References

External links

Regular fire updates from the OCFA

After Action Report Santiago Fire: October 21 - November 9, 2007
{{2007 California wildfires 2007 California wildfires October 2007 crimes in the United States 2007 in Orange County, California Santa Ana Mountains Cleveland National Forest Wildfires in Orange County, California California wildfires caused by arson Trabuco Canyon, California Arson in 2007

The Fire

Response

See also

References

External links