Investigators: Vehicle's Exhaust Pipe Might Have Started Triangle Fire
Monday, Jan 26, 2009 | Updated 1:25 PM PST
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Firefighters fully contained the 30,305-acre wildfire Wednesday while fire officials investigated the possibility that the blaze was sparked by a vehicle's exhaust equipment.
The Triangle Fire -- also known as the Freeway Complex Fire -- started near Corona in Riverside County about 9 a.m. Saturday, and strong winds quickly pushed the flames into Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties. The blaze later merged with a blaze that broke out near Brea.
The fire was 100 percent contained as of noon, according to the Orange County Fire Authority.
The OCFA said the fire has caused minor injuries to 14 firefighters, destroyed 187 residences and damaged 127 others, while four commercial properties were either damaged or destroyed.
Roughly 3,760 state, county and city firefighters remain assigned to the firelines. CalFire estimated that the blaze has cost $14.8 million to battle so far.
By Tuesday evening, all evacuation orders had been lifted in the areas affected by blaze, including Diamond Bar, Yorba Linda, and neighborhoods in Brea and Chino Hills, the OCFA reported.
All public schools in the Brea-Olinda Unified School District remained closed along with St. Francis of Assisi Catholic School in Yorba Linda, which may be closed through the end of the week.
In Riverside County, as many as 600 homes were evacuated Saturday morning in Corona, within the Green River community, north of the Riverside (91) Freeway.
Seventeen homes were damaged or destroyed in the Dean Homes neighborhood before the blaze jumped three miles down the Santa Ana River Canyon, touching down in Anaheim Hills south of the river, and Yorba Linda north of it.
On Tuesday, President Bush declared Southern California a disaster area, freeing up federal aid to areas ravaged by the wildfires, including Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Orange, San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
Although the CalFire investigators were still evaluating evidence and witness statements into what sparked the fire, the OCFA said "it is possible the fire was caused by a vehicle's exhaust equipment."
According to the Orange County Register, the catalytic converter of a vehicle's exhaust system may have been the culprit, coming into contact with some dry brush and igniting the blaze.
