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Fast-moving Lilac Fire leaves destruction in wake

The Lilac Fire, which started late morning Dec. 7 as small brush fire on the side of Southbound I-15 just south of Highway 76 and quickly turned into a firestorm that would scorch 4,100 acres, left more than 100 families in Fallbrook and Bonsall homeless and with lives turned upside down.

Fueled by fierce Santa Ana winds, the fire spread so quickly many people left their homes with only the clothes they were wearing. The fire left the Rancho Monserate Country Club, where more than 60 manufactured homes burned, looking like a war zone.

"Some people's past has probably been burned up because the fire was too fast for them to take very much out of their homes," said San Diego County Supervisor Bill Horn while addressing a crowd at a special Town Hall meeting in Fallbrook Dec. 9, "and their present is a mess and chaos and we want to help them with that."

The Lilac Fire forced more than 10,000 people to evacuate their homes the day it erupted.

While most evacuees went to stay with family and friends, more than 900 people stayed at American Red Cross shelters set up in Oceanside, Carlsbad, Escondido, San Marcos and El Cajon.

All evacuation orders had been lifted by 4 p.m. Dec. 10 with the exception of the areas suffering the heaviest losses – Rancho Monserate Country Club and the area between 5200 Olive Hill Rd. and 5800 Olive Hill Rd., where many homes and structures were destroyed.

According to a report issued by Cal Fire San Diego the morning of Dec. 12, the Lilac Fire was 92 percent contained. The report listed 157 structures as being destroyed and 64 more as being damaged.

Chief Stephen Abbott of North County Fire Protection District said 114 residential homes were destroyed in Fallbrook and Bonsall in the fire.

The San Diego County Office of Emergency Services set up a local assistance center for fire victims at the Vista Library. It is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily and includes staff from the Red Cross, San Diego County services, DMV, Salvation Army and major insurance companies. The center, which will remain open until it is deemed no longer needed, is also staffed with health care workers, mental health care providers and case workers.

"We want to help navigate victims through the recovery and rebuilding process," said Amy Harbert of the San Diego County's Office of Emergency Services. "Information on recovery can be found at sdcountyrecovery.com. We also have an email address for those that need assistance navigating the recovery process. It is [email protected]."

No humans died in the fire but some civilians were injured, including racehorse trainer Martine Bellocq, who suffered second and third degree burns over 50 percent of her body as she tried to rescue horses at the fire-ravaged San Luis Rey Training Center in Bonsall, where 46 horses reportedly perished. Bellocq was airlifted to UC San Diego Medical Center and placed in a medically-induced coma.

Initial reports of the Lilac Fire were called in by passing motorists. At the Town Hall meeting, Cal Fire Division Chief Nick Schuler explained the situation.

"We received a report at about 11:27 a.m. that we had a vegetation fire on Southbound (Interstate) 15, just south of Highway 76 along the roadway there," said Schuler. "We quickly responded at what we consider a high-dispatch level based upon the weather conditions. Within five minutes myself, a battalion chief and resources from the North County Fire Protection District arrived at scene."

Schuler said the fire was approximately two to three acres when he and colleagues arrived and the wind was not yet a significant factor. That changed quickly.

"Within minutes wind gusts were sustained at 35 mph," said Schuler. "At that point we began making some significant decisions."

Those decisions included getting the San Diego County Sheriff's Department to begin ordering evacuations.

"After a wind shift, the fire spotted over Hwy 395 right by Rancho Monserate," said Schuler. "Before it spotted over the freeway we placed a mandatory evacuation order not only for Rancho Monserate, but everything on West Lilac Road all the way to the school (Sullivan Middle School), including the school. We did that because we saw how rapidly the fire was growing and we wanted to give people the ability to get out."

Rancho Monserate Country Club residents received high praise from Abbott at the Town Hall meeting.

"The residents of Rancho Monserate – many of them I think are here tonight – I don't know how on earth you managed to get out of there in 10 minutes without any losses, but that's a heroic effort," said Abbott, eliciting a loud and prolonged round of applause.

Schuler relayed how the forecast for extremely dry and windy weather had prompted Cal Fire to bolster personnel and resources prior to the fire.

"We started a staffing pattern, holding people on duty and staffing additional engines and insuring that we had a surge protection of resources should a fire start," said Schuler. "We had additional aircraft that we moved from Northern California into Southern California based upon predicted and expected weather conditions. It was key that we had that."

All the extra manpower was needed to fight a fire that traveled quickly.

"Within two hours of the fire it was already 500 acres and rapidly expanding," said Schuler. "By 6 p.m. the fire was 3,000 acres, and by the evening time it was 4,100 acres. The challenges we faced were extreme weather conditions. There was some incredible firefighting that was done based upon the conditions that they were faced with."

The fire was fought aggressively from both the ground and air.

"We placed significant resource orders for large numbers of engines and aircraft," said Schuler. "We placed a no-divert on aircraft due to an immediate life threat. The San Diego Fire Rescue Department has two night-flying capable helicopters and in the early stages of the incident we activated an agreement which allowed us to having night-flying helicopters for the duration of the incident, which was key to our success."

Military helicopters, two Navy and two Marine, also aided in the firefight, according to Schuler.

In total, 1,659 firefighters and other personnel helped battle the Lilac Fire, and 1,399 were still on the scene as of Dec. 12 helping to bring the burn area under full containment.

According to Bret Gouvea, Cal Fire team 1 incident commander, firefighters from the following states helped battle the Lilac Fire: Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Mexico, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming.

Abbott told the crowd at the Town Hall meeting the firefighting was "intense."

"I too need to thank our men and women of the fire department," said Abbott. "This was intense fire. These firefighters ate a lot of fire. That's not something we like to see happen. I can't tell you the number of folks I saw just covered in soot head to toe and I'm concerned for their health long-term because of that."

Abbott also offered his sympathy to fire victims.

"A lot of you here tonight suffered a loss, and I'm so sorry for your loss," said Abbott. "You hear about all the things that went right and it doesn't feel like a success for you when you've lost something and I understand that. Notwithstanding, things could have been much, much worse."

The fire caused area power outages, road closures and school cancellations. Students from the Bonsall Unified School District were evacuated to Fallbrook High School the day of the fire.

While classes at Fallbrook schools resumed Dec. 12, Bonsall Elementary, Bonsall Preschool, Bonsall High, and Sullivan Middle will not be open until after the holiday break, Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2018. Bonsall West and Vivian Banks reopened Dec. 13.

Livestock, along with horses rescued from San Luis Rey Training Center and the surrounding area, were sheltered at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, where volunteer help and donations were in great supply.

Employees from the county animal services department helped one Fallbrook man evacuate his 400-pound pig, and Sheriff's deputies rescued three kittens they found in a box while patrolling a burned area of Bonsall.

Sheriff's deputies patrolled evacuated areas to protect homes and property and also conducted looting patrols of burned neighborhoods. On the afternoon of Dec. 9, deputies arrested a woman suspected of stealing from a Bonsall home on Disney Lane.

The Board of Supervisors, in an effort to help people rebuild, adopted a resolution to waive building permit fees for people who lost homes and other structures in the fire.

Vince Nicoletti, deputy director of San Diego County Planning and Development Services, said at the Town Hall meeting that people shouldn't worry about the county causing any unnecessary headaches.

"If you have concerns that there may be structures on your property that weren't permitted in the past, and you're concerned about rebuilding them, do not worry, we've gone through this before and we want to make it easy for you," said Nicoletti. "We do not use fires as an excuse or as a point to make your life more uncomfortable. There are state codes and there are requirements that we have to follow, such as the California building code, but where we have flexibility we want to use it. We want to help you move forward as quickly as possible."

Horn and state Assemblymember Marie Waldron both stated at the Town Hall meeting that their offices were there to help and announced phone numbers. Horn's office can be reached at (619) 531-5555, Waldron's district office at (760) 480-7570.

 

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