Reporting from the Yorba Linda fire scene
City Editor Heather McRae called Saturday to ask if I could go to Travis Ranch Activity Center to interview evacuees, since a Register reporter was caught in traffic on the smoky 91 Freeway.
On my way out the door, Team Leader John Murphy called to redirect me to Yorba Linda Community Center. My wife Jill joined me to take cell phone photos while I interviewed officials and residents seeking shelter at the Imperial Highway facility.
The place was packed with police because it houses city emergency communications gear, and it became a check-in point for police resources. I saw uniforms from Placentia, Newport Beach, Irvine and Tustin, as well as county deputies, Brea police and Explorers.
Brea Police Captain Jack Conklin told me the city substation on Yorba Linda Boulevard west of Yorba Ranch Road was too close to the fires, so the center became a staging area.
Evacuations north of Yorba Linda Boulevard reached west to Lakeview Avenue, Conklin said, with Esperanza High School set up as a Red Cross center—but it was later moved to another location due to the smoke.
Although the center was not an official evacuation point, several residents sat inside, including Ernest and Dolores Donato from Rockhampton Court by Chino Hills State Park.
Donato said they came to the center because they were familiar with the facility, noting an officer who lives in his neighborhood alerted residents to the danger by sounding the siren on his motorcycle. “Embers were falling from the sky and winds strong,” he said.
Jill Young, with daughter Macy, 7, said she was afraid she’d get stuck in Eastlake Village if she stayed. She said, “Traffic was heavy” with “people parked on the side of the road.”
Another refugee was Melissa Ness, with her seven-year-old daughter Megan. She said they were out that morning and couldn’t get back to their Bryant Ranch home. They first went to the Steinmart parking lot, which was “full like the Christmas shopping season.”
Theresa Rameriz, who works at Albertson’s on New River Road, dropped off roasted chicken, sandwiches and bakery items from the evacuated store.
Jill and I went home, and like many others, packed photos and clothing for a potential evacuation. That evening, we could see the fire roaring westward from our front porch.
Television coverage was dramatic, but the reporters weren’t familiar with the city—one scary report had flames close to the Nixon Library—so we turned to the Breaking News Blog on the Register Web site for frequently updated, accurate info, including McRae’s interviews with residents moving horses from affected areas.
On my way out the door, Team Leader John Murphy called to redirect me to Yorba Linda Community Center. My wife Jill joined me to take cell phone photos while I interviewed officials and residents seeking shelter at the Imperial Highway facility.
The place was packed with police because it houses city emergency communications gear, and it became a check-in point for police resources. I saw uniforms from Placentia, Newport Beach, Irvine and Tustin, as well as county deputies, Brea police and Explorers.
Brea Police Captain Jack Conklin told me the city substation on Yorba Linda Boulevard west of Yorba Ranch Road was too close to the fires, so the center became a staging area.
Evacuations north of Yorba Linda Boulevard reached west to Lakeview Avenue, Conklin said, with Esperanza High School set up as a Red Cross center—but it was later moved to another location due to the smoke.
Although the center was not an official evacuation point, several residents sat inside, including Ernest and Dolores Donato from Rockhampton Court by Chino Hills State Park.
Donato said they came to the center because they were familiar with the facility, noting an officer who lives in his neighborhood alerted residents to the danger by sounding the siren on his motorcycle. “Embers were falling from the sky and winds strong,” he said.
Jill Young, with daughter Macy, 7, said she was afraid she’d get stuck in Eastlake Village if she stayed. She said, “Traffic was heavy” with “people parked on the side of the road.”
Another refugee was Melissa Ness, with her seven-year-old daughter Megan. She said they were out that morning and couldn’t get back to their Bryant Ranch home. They first went to the Steinmart parking lot, which was “full like the Christmas shopping season.”
Theresa Rameriz, who works at Albertson’s on New River Road, dropped off roasted chicken, sandwiches and bakery items from the evacuated store.
Jill and I went home, and like many others, packed photos and clothing for a potential evacuation. That evening, we could see the fire roaring westward from our front porch.
Television coverage was dramatic, but the reporters weren’t familiar with the city—one scary report had flames close to the Nixon Library—so we turned to the Breaking News Blog on the Register Web site for frequently updated, accurate info, including McRae’s interviews with residents moving horses from affected areas.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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