Origin of Sunday’s 8.4-acre brush fire in Costa Mesa remains under investigation

Costa Mesa fire officials are investigating the cause of an 8.4-acre brush fire that broke out Sunday afternoon at the city’s Fairview Park, injuring two minors and prompting the evacuation of homes on nearby Swan Drive for several hours.

First responders were called to the scene at 1:15 p.m. after park rangers in the area noticed signs of a fire on the north end of the park, near Victoria Street, according to a city news release issued Sunday.

City and public safety officials established an emergency operations center near City Hall to coordinate a response to the blaze, as Costa Mesa Fire & Rescue worked in a unified command with the Orange County Fire Authority to battle the blazes in high temperatures and breezy conditions, according to CMFD Battalion Chief Chris Coates.

Spectators on Costa Mesa’s Placentia Avenue Sunday afternoon stop to watch smoke from a fire on the west end of Fairview Park.

(Zach Jones / O.C. Model Engineers)

“It was hot — we were under a heat warning in Southern California over the weekend — and it was dry,” Coates said Monday.

Crews from Newport Beach and Huntington Beach assisted in the effort, as air vehicles provided by OCFA and the Orange County Sheriff’s Department doused flames via overhead water drops, he added.

Due to smoke conditions and observed spotting, caused by embers igniting smaller fires away from the main fire, residents living on Swan Drive near the northwest end of Fairview Park were evacuated on a voluntary basis.

The city’s Balearic Community Center was opened from 4 to 6 p.m. in order to shelter evacuees and serve as a general hub of information.

City officials urged residents in the vicinity of the fire to remain indoors Sunday and to call 911 if they experienced any respiratory conditions from smoke inhalation.

A fire at Fairview Park in Costa Mesa burned 8.4 acres of brush Sunday, causing the evacuation of homes on nearby Swan Drive.

(Jamie Schwering / Joy Air Tours)

Two teenagers reportedly received minor injuries during the blaze and were assessed at the scene, Coates said Monday. One minor was transported to a nearby hospital, while the other was released, but details on the nature of the injuries are not being released to the public, due to the victims’ ages.

One individual who was found in an encampment at the park was taken into police custody on suspicion of trespassing, according to Coates, though it is unclear whether that person is thought to have had any involvement with the fire or its origins. Costa Mesa police spokeswoman Roxi Fyad did not provide information Monday regarding the individual’s identity or status.

Members of the nonprofit Orange County Model Engineers, who run miniature trains on a portion of Fairview east of Placentia Avenue, were operating vehicles during a private party Sunday, when they saw a column of smoke rising from the west.

OCME treasurer Zach Jones, celebrating his recent graduation from Pepperdine University, said riders placed a call to the fire department before the train had returned to the station and immediately sprang to action, gathering fire extinguishers and pressurized water canisters together and filling buckets with water, in case the winds blew eastward.

“We do fire extinguisher training courses with our volunteers, just so we can be prepared for these things,” said Jones, 21. “We just had everything set up, just in case the winds were to shift, so we could wet everything down.”

In a matter of minutes, OCME volunteers were posted along a hillside, prepared to defend their corner of the park if needed. But the smoke and fire veered northward, staying well west of Placentia Avenue.

By 6 p.m., crews had begun a “mop up” of the scene, forming a perimeter around the area and dousing potential hot spots to prevent the possibility of embers rekindling. Personnel remained at Fairview Park until approximately 12:30 a.m. Monday to clear the area, according to Coates.

“We had our crews out there this morning, and our investigators went out to see if they could determine the [fire’s] cause and origin,” the fire chief added.

Jones and his fellow OCME members thanked first responders for their efforts.

“It didn’t seem like an easy fire to fight,” the Costa Mesa resident said. “To all the fire crews, we give a huge thank you. They did a great job.”

An Orange County Fire Authority Coulson CH-47 Chinook helitanker flies Sunday over the O.C. Model Engineer yard in Costa Mesa’s Fairview Park.

(Zach Jones / O.C. Model Engineers)