Officials report 31 structures were destroyed in the Bond Fire in SoCal

The fire blackened 6,686 acres

Bond Fire Dec. 3, 2020
3-D map showing the perimeters of the Silverado and Bond Fires, looking west.

The spread of the 6,686-acre Bond Fire in Southern California east of Irvine has been stopped for several days but there are still two hand crews and 15 fire engines assigned. Officials report that 31 structures were destroyed and $14.4 million has been spent on suppression since it started December 2, 2020.

The fire burned very close to numerous homes in Silverado Canyon, as well as the Orange County/U.S. Forest Service fire station. Judging from the video below and the vegetation seen in the satellite photos, there may have been an interesting fire fight at the station.

Silverado Fire Station proximity to the Bond Fire
Silverado Fire Station proximity to the Bond Fire. 3-D image looking west. Fire Mapped Dec. 3, 2020. Satellite photo, May 2, 2019.
Silverado Fire Station
Silverado Fire Station, satellite photo May 2, 2019

Today Fire Photo Girl posted some excellent video she shot during the early hours of the fire.

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Author: Bill Gabbert

After working full time in wildland fire for 33 years, he continues to learn, and strives to be a Student of Fire.

6 thoughts on “Officials report 31 structures were destroyed in the Bond Fire in SoCal”

  1. I was assigned to the Silverado fire station as a Fire Prevention Technician during the years of 1966-1974. I transferred to R3 as a District Fire Prevention Officer on the Lincoln NF at Cloudcroft NM..

    I have fond memories working at the Silverado station and living in the canyon about 3 miles east of the station. I had to recognize FS land boundaries in order to perform my law enforcement duties which were part of the job description. There were not any strictly law enforcement positions at that time.

    The Silverado station was the only inhabitant on the property at that time. The land was an administrative site. It was not attached to the greater national forest land mass located farther east at the end of the Silverado cyn road. The USFS was responsible for clearance around the perimeter of all structures. The brush and tall grass covered land to the east and west of the station was owned by the Irvine Ranch. That may still be the case at this time. I will try to get or take a look at a plat map from the Trabuco district office. Several of the fire stations were located on administrative sites. I know Temescal station was as l worked there as a TTO. (Tank truck operator). Little did l know that l would be classified as an Engineer in later years. Thanks for a great site Bill and allowing us to comment.

    I would like to see a map of the station after the fire went through.

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  2. google earth street view has great images for this site is dated 3\2020. i dont know anything about California vegetation except to say it sure looks thick.

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      1. I’d love to go there and do brush clearing and oak canopy pruning and restore oak Savannah there around buildings! I do it up here in Minnesota but it’s minus 5 degrees Fahrenheit and 5 months to go yet. I’ll do the labor for room and board, airline ticket round trip ect!! Gotta get there where it’s warmer and do some gratifying work!!

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  3. Hmmm. Unless those are old photos, it looks like both OCFD and USFS need some practice on maintaining defensible space.

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    1. Jim
      You are 100 per cent correct on the Silverado Station. I have noticed that for several years there has been a large dead oak tree and lots of tall dead weeds on the property. Thought of taking some pictures of it to show the lack of brush clearance enforcement prevalent in the Orange County canyons and roads. Another few blatantly obvious examples is along Jamboree Road going north from OCFA’s headquarters and the slope to the east of headquarters. I have brought this up at several public meetings about fire and was assured that since there were not buildings within 100 feet there was no reason to have good clearance along these roads. Dismissed the little lady because that they were the “professionals” and what could a lady with common sense pointing out the obvious know.
      Thank you for bringing up the obvious.

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