ANGELES
NATIONAL FOREST -- The day after the Williams Fire broke
out, Rita Plair-Wears was driving into the forest on patrol
when she spotted the unthinkable in her rear-view mirror …
a truck full of people with a hibachi in back.
As fire scorched thousands of acres
of wilderness just east of Highway 39 in the Angeles
National Forest, the people driving behind her were heading
up to the forest for a barbecue.
``Did they not see the fire in
front of them?'' said Plair-Wears, commander of law
enforcement and investigations for four Southern California
forests.
``There was a huge column of smoke
coming up out of the canyon. I was driving on the same road
they were. It was totally oblivious behavior.''
One day later, the entire forest
was closed.
Since then, the U.S. Forest Service
has posted signs about the closure at just about every trail
and road leading into the forest and stepped up its patrols
to catch people sneaking past the signs.
But enforcing the closure is a
daunting task for the five law enforcement officers and some
20 forest protection officers who patrol all 655,000 acres
of the forest.
Hundreds of trails crisscross the
foothills, their entrances tucked between houses or
branching off roads. Many start in city borders and link up
with trails on forest land, like Chaney Trail in Altadena,
the trail off Arroyo Boulevard in Pasadena, the Ben
Overturff Trail in Monrovia.
The exceptions to the rule
complicate the closure. Pockets of private land dot the
forest, which the Forest Service has no say over. People can
drive up the highways and stop at a private business, such
as Newcomb's Ranch or Williams Camp, but not alongside the
road on forest land.
Plenty of people who frequent the
forest are upset about the strict closure. The forest has
been partially closed several times in the past because of
fire danger, but rarely the entire forest and rarely for so
long. The forest is not expected to reopen until at least
two inches of rain falls.
``Am I the only one who thinks this
falls under the definition of Draconian?'' asked Duarte
resident Brooks Pangburn in a letter to the editor. ``I can
understand the need to keep people away from the burned
areas as crews mop up, mudslide potential is assessed and
remaining structures are secured. But nothing can justify
keeping the public out of areas far away from the burns.''
But after two major wildfires
destroyed more than 58,000 acres off Highway 39 in just over
a month, the Forest Service is not taking any chances, Plair-Wears
said.
``This is to educate everyone as to
the extreme fire danger, not to strong-arm people off public
land,'' Plair-Wears said. ``Most use the forest wisely and
responsibly. Those are the ones the closure really hurts.''
So they patrol.
On this day, Plair-Wears is
patrolling Highway 39 and East Fork Road, surveying the
blackened and barren landscape, where the canyon floor was
once invisible for all the trees.
As she drives along the lonely
roads, she confronts two sets of violators, a Long Beach
couple watching a helicopter from the side of the road and a
pair of Mormons gazing at the reservoir from a turnout.
In both cases, Plair-Wears is
friendly but firm. Did you see the signs saying the forest
is closed?
They plead ignorance, and she
proceeds to tell them about the extreme fire danger, which
already charred 58,000 acres of wilderness.
``Can we take one last picture?''
asks Elder Gunning, a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints pamphlet poking out of his front shirt pocket. He and
Elder Little chat with Plair-Wears a bit, before leaving.
To date, Plair-Wears has not yet
issued a citation for sneaking into the forest. Most of the
time, the violators leave without a fuss. But sometimes they
get stubborn.
One family was throwing rocks off a
turnout when Plair-Wears told them about the closure and
asked them to move along. They got in the car, flipped a
U-turn and parked on the other side of the road.
``I was thinking, `You need to go
back down the road and not stop until you get to the
city,''' Plair-Wears said. ``Eventually they got tired of me
driving behind them.''
Then there are those who simply go
too far. Several weekends ago, some campers broke into
Buckhorn campground, lit a big campfire and refused to leave
when confronted by an officer. They were one of an estimated
50 to earn a citation, which carries a maximum fine of
$5,000, said Greg Meece, patrol captain for the Angeles
National Forest.
In some cases, signs warning about
the closure are posted at trail entrances still on city
land, when the forest border is actually farther up, a
source of frustration for some residents.
Although attorney Paul Ayers backs
the forest closure, he objects to the Forest Service posting
closure signs at Rubio Trail, which is private land for
about a mile before it hits forest land. With the closure in
effect, he said people need every bit of wilderness they can
get.
``Here, people have two birth
rights … to swim in the Pacific Ocean and to walk in the
Angeles National Forest,'' Ayers said. ``Imagine going out
to surf and there's a fence at the edge of the water. People
are having a hard time with it.''
But more than saving wildlife, the
goal is saving people, Plair-Wears said.
Wildfires can flare up without
warning, leaving little time for people to escape, Plair-Wears
said. The danger is heightened by the millions of visitors
who flock to the forest each year and the thousands of
residents living right up against its borders.
So during Labor Day weekend, when
the Curve Fire ignited, the challenge was to evacuate an
estimated 10,000 people as walls of fire burned through the
canyon.
``There is no way of finding you,
no way of telling you where to go. I would not want to be up
there in back country and see smoke. Smoke tells you nothing
about where the fire is,'' Plair-Wears said. ``It's about
being able to protect people.''
-- Lisa Faught can be reached at
(626) 578-6300, Ext. 4496, or by e-mail at lisa.faught@sgvn.com.
