Crews contain 62-acre brush fire in Bolsa Chica wetlands in Huntington Beach; homes spared

A brush fire in the Bolsa Chica wetlands on Sunday afternoon sent blankets of dark, threatening smoke into ocean-view Huntington Beach neighborhoods.

Flames initially scorched about five acres near the 3800 block of Warner Ave. as of 5:30 p.m., but firefighters by then were gaining control of the blaze, Huntington Beach Fire Department spokesman Eric Blaska said. It grew to consume a total of 62.5 acres of brush, but no structures had been damaged by the time it was fully contained at 7 p.m.

No mandatory evacuation orders were issued. However, officials had recommended that some residents leave voluntarily and asked people to stay away from the area as the smoke plumes rose from the wetlands.

Fire coming from the Wet Lands in Huntington Beach pic.twitter.com/JlhW09h8XP

— OC Gaymer (@Francision) July 26, 2020

The fire burned near the blufftop Brightwater community, which includes multimillion-dollar houses and sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean. Crews were preparing to defend homes from the blaze Sunday evening, but no buildings were at immediate risk by 5:45 p.m., Blaska said.

Brightwater resident Kay Yocham said she and her guests had just put a pizza in her backyard oven when they noticed the fire, which had moved inland in about a mile of dry brush.

“We saw it since it was just a spark, it moved fast. I wasn’t really worried until they said `Get ready to go out the front door.’ Then the flames got 10 feet high and the wind changed,” Yocham said.

Yocham felt reassured when she saw helicopters dropping water on the fire just 50 yards from her home.

“Then I felt they were really on top of it,” she said. “They did a really good job.”

Huntington Beach resident Ryan Rossi was riding a bike near where the fire started. “Wind blew it straight toward houses,” he said.

The blaze reported at 4:02 p.m. moved through waist-to-shoulder height vegetation, and was driven by onshore winds that typically blow during the late afternoon in Huntington Beach, Blaska said.

Flames left a burn scar east of the waters that run along the east side of Pacific Coast Highway, near Brightwater Drive, between Fordham Lane and Warner Avenue, Blaska said. The scorched land is part of a protected wildlife habitat, but the nursery of the Bolsa Chica Conservancy was not damaged, officials for the Bolsa Chica Land Trust said in a statement.

“We are very thankful to the men and women of the Huntington Beach Fire Department for their outstanding work, and to the cooperating agencies who provided helicopters and other support,” Land Trust officials said. “We must assess the damage to the Reserve and what it will take to restore the burned acreage.”

PRESS RELEASE
The land that burned today along with the Growing Space that was saved by having #defensiblespace around it, was preserved as open space by the hard work of the @BolsaChica_LT#BolsaChicaFire #BolsaChicaLandTrust #BolsaChicaWetlands pic.twitter.com/iPIjXnPxC0

— BolsaChica LandTrust (@BolsaChica_LT) July 27, 2020

Huntington Beach Fire Department Battalion Chief David McBride said crews attacked the blaze within five minutes of it being spotted. The quick response was aided by a city fire station being nearby, at Pacific Coast Highway and Warner Avenue.

He said the Orange County Fire Authority and the Fountain Valley Fire Department joined in the firefighting effort; on scene were eight fire engines and two helicopters. Three OCFA engines and two helicopters were dispatched, OCFA spokesman Paul Holladay said.

The cause of the fire was under investigation, McBride said.

A brush fire is burning in Huntington Beach in the Bolsa Chica wetlands: just South of Warner avenue and homes are threatened. Evacuations on Brightwater drive and Oceanridge drive. Winds driving the fire South and East @CBSLA @KCBSKCALDesk pic.twitter.com/nz73q06dWA

— Desmond Shaw (@RoadSageLA) July 26, 2020