OLD FIRE

The 'Old Fire' was a wildfire that started on October 25, 2003 in the San Bernardino Mountains of the U.S. state of California. It was one of at least a dozen wildfires burning around Southern California at this time (which included the Cedar Fire, the second largest fire in California history). Fanned by the Santa Ana winds, the fire burned 91,281 acres (369.4 km²), destroyed 993 homes and caused 6 deaths. The final cost of the fire was $42 million dollars. It should be noted that a USFS report on the "true" combined costs of the 2003 Old Fire, Padua, and the Grand Prix wildfires which burned at the same time was nearly $1.3 Billion. When cleanup, watershed damages and other costs are considered beyond the mere "bill" for firefighting and property damage, wildfire impacts are much higher than many realize.
The fire threatened San Bernardino and Highland, as well as the mountain resort communities of Cedar Glen, Crestline, Running Springs and Lake Arrowhead and forcing upwards of 80,000 residents to evacuate their homes.
Calls to investigate the Cedar Glen incident were ignored by the Department of Justice, the Forestry Service, the Department of Agriculture, the FBI, the San Bernardino Board of Supervisors and Barbara Boxer. The community is now part of a Redevelopment Agency which is controlled by a Board of Supervisors.
The suspected cause of this fire was arson.
On November 11, 2006 it was reported that Raymond Lee Oyler, of Beaumont, California, was suspected of starting the Old Fire.^[1]. He had not been charged in that case and the search for the arsonist continued.
On Aug. 7, 2007, local newspapers reported that 25-year-old Jeremiah D. Hope, of Riverside faced federal charges for starting a blaze that eventually merged with the Old Fire. Authorities said Hope had been evacuated from his Crestline home when he and some friends off-roaded onto dry vegetation in order to get a better view of the Old Fire. The vehicles hot components then ignited the brush, sparking the Playground Fire, according to reports.
The vehicle's catalytic converter reportedly sparked a second fire near Playground Road, which firefighters dubbed the Playground Fire. That fire quickly consumed forest land and later became part of the Old Fire. Hope faced misdemeanor counts of causing the National Forest to burn without a permit and one count of placing a vehicle in a dangerous area.

Contents

External links

External links

★ Old Fire Burn Map

★ Old Fire Final Update

★ USDA Preliminary Report on Expenditures

★ The Old Fire - One Year Later

★ The Old Fire Photo Gallery

★ The Old Fire Recovery Group

★ Still Photos During First hours of The Old Fire in San Bernardino - Larry R. Erickson

★ [1]

★ [2]