Alert: Orange County issues Voluntary evacuation order

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Alert: Orange County issues Voluntary evacuation order

Orange County issues Voluntary evacuation for Santiago, Modjeska, Silverado, Williams and Harding canyons. (USGS Web Cams)

Orange County public safety officials urged residents of wildfire-denuded Santiago, Modjeska, Silverado, Williams and Harding canyons to evacuate their homes Saturday in advance of a storm that could produce flooding and mudslides.

Firefighters want people to be out their homes by noon, but the evacuations are only voluntary.

Firefighters will begin emergency preparations at 8 a.m. Sunday by calling in additional swift-water rescue crews and moving a rescue truck into place at the mouth of Silverado Canyon to shorten response time, said Capt. Mike Blawn of the Orange County Fire Authority.

A bulldozer will be available around the clock to clear any mud flows, he said.
Starting about 6 a.m. Sunday, firefighters will begin patrols of riverbeds and will have two swift-water rescue teams ready to be deployed by helicopter, Blawn said.

Firefighters set up K-rails in strategic spots along Modjeska Canyon Road to divert runoff from homes.

Large Animals: Horses and other big animals can be taken to the Orange County Fairgrounds, and evacuated residents can go to El Modena High School at 3920 E. Spring St. in Orange, where a shelter will open at 4 p.m.

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How fires get their names

Every year in California thousands of wildfires start throughout the state. In most cases, the dispatch center sending the initial resources to a wildland fire will designate a name for the fire, but the first on scene engine or fire official can also name the incident. Fires are usually named for the area in which they start – a geographical location, local landmark, street, lake, mountain, peak, etc. Quickly naming the fire provides responding fire resources with an additional locater, and allows fire officials to track and prioritize incidents by name. For example during the Southern California Fire Siege of 2003, the largest wildland fire in California history, the Cedar Fire in San Diego County, was named after the Cedar Creek Falls area where it started. The destructive Old Fire, which burned during the same time period in San Bernardino County, was named after the road along which it started - Old Waterman Canyon Road.

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Saturday, January 26, 2008