The 2003 "Old Fire" in California's San Bernardino Mountains

October 25, 2003 was the start of the worst fire in San
Bernardino history- the Old Fire (named because it
began in Old Waterman Canyon- HWY 18).

The fire was started by an arsonist.

The Old Fire claimed the lives of four people, burnt over
thirty miles of mountains, and destroyed a few hundred
homes in San Bernardino and in various San Bernardino
mountain communities (including Crestline). The fires
came within 3/4 of a mile from my home.

All mountain communities were evacuated for over a
week. About 60,000 people in the mountains (inlcuding
me) spent time in the Red Cross shelter and had no
idea whether they would have a home to come back to
when everything was over. This doesn't even include all
the people displaced when the fire was blown down the
mountain into the Del Rosa area of San Bernardino by
the strong Santa Ana winds. Luckily, my area was
untouched- but so many others were not so lucky. I met
people in the shelter that first night who already knew
their homes had burned and who had only managed to
get out with the clothes they were wearing.

Two years later, we felt the effects of the fire again. In
January 2005, unusually high rainfall caused previously
burnt hillsides in the mountains to collapse. Hwy 18
sustained heavy damage when a few tons of the hillside
fell onto the roadway. All the mountain roads were
closed for two days, stranding people still in the
mountains and those who had managed to come off the
mountain early in the morning before the highway patrol
closed all access routes into the mountains (including
me).

The reason I am relating these two events is because
the Old Fire in 2003 and some of our road problems in
2005 were the effect of an arsonist. Someone
maliciously threw a flare out of a car window with the
intent of starting a wildfire. I am reminded of this every
time I drive into the mountains where I still see burnt
homes and black, dead pines. I hope anyone reading
this who thinks starting fires is fun might stop to think
about the consequences of their actions. People lost
their homes, their memories, their sense of safety, and,
in some cases, their lives. One person affected the lives
of over 60,000 people with one stupid, selfish action.

My normal commute up and down the mountain.

View of the smoke and fire from HWY 18 (October 2003)

Looking up at the burning mountains from San Bernardino
(October 2003)

Looking southeast over Lake Gregory at the fire and
smoke (October 2003)

A flooded street by my home (January 2005)

Trees burning in the San
Bernardino mountains near
Crestline (October 2003)