Old Fire
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| Old Fire | |
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| Location | San Bernardino Mountains |
| Date | October 25, 2003 17:37 (PDT) |
| Burned area | 91,281 acres (369.4 km²) |
| Ignition source | Arson |
| Land use | Mixed, residential and wildlands |
| Fatalities | 6 |
| Motive | Arson |
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 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. 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.
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. The community is now part of a Redevelopment Agency which is controlled by a Board of Supervisors.
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 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.
[edit] References
[edit] 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
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