Old Fire

Old Fire
Location	San Bernardino Mountains
Date	October 25, 2003 17:37 (PDT)
Burned area	91,281 acres (369.40 km2)
Ignition source	Arson
Land use	Mixed, residential and wildlands
Fatalities	6

The Old Fire was a wildfire that started on October 25, 2003 in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California. It was one of at least a dozen wildfires burning around Southern California at this time (which included the Cedar Fire, the third largest fire in California history (behind the Santiago Canyon Fire of 1889 and the Witch Creek Fire). Fanned by the Santa Ana winds, the fire burned 91,281 acres (369.40 km²), destroyed 993 homes and caused 6 deaths. The final cost of the fire was $42 million. The fire was fully contained by November 2, 2003 with the help of rain and snow.^[1] A USFS report on the "true" combined costs of the 2003 Old Fire, Padua, and the Grand Prix wildfires (the Grand Prix Fire merged with the Old Fire and the part of the Old Fire that crossed into Los Angeles County was known as the "Padua Fire") was nearly $1.3 billion. When cleanup, watershed damages and other costs are considered beyond the expenses for firefighting and property damage, wildfire impacts are much higher. About 750,000 acres (3,000 km²) were blackened across five southern California counties.^[1]

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. Part of California State University, San Bernardino burned during the Old Fire.

On August 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.

In 2009, Ricky Lee Fowler was charged with igniting the Old Fire. Authorities believed that Fowler was a passenger in a vehicle that was seen leaving the area where the fire started; the driver of the van, Martin David Valdez, Jr., died of a gunshot wound in 2006. A grand jury indicted Fowler October 19, 2009, with one count of arson of an inhabited structure, one count of aggravated arson, and five counts of murder. The victims identified were Charles Howard Cunningham, 93, of San Bernardino; Ralph Eugene McWilliams, 67, of Cedar Glen; Chad Leo Williams, 70, of Crestline; James William McDermoth, 70, of San Bernardino; and Robert Norman Taylor, 54, of San Bernardino. All five victims died from indirect consequences of the fire, due to physical or emotional strain.^[2]

NASA images of Old Fire

Natural color image of Old Fire and Grand Prix fires

Infrared close up

References

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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