The motorist who first reported the Canyon Fire 2 said Monday, Oct. 23 that he described the Oct. 9 incident as a fire, not as smoke.
The distinction matters because Orange County Fire Authority officials confirmed Monday that the dispatcher’s first response was to send a single fire engine with lights and sirens off, a deployment known as a low-priority “smoke check.” By the time a dispatcher ordered more engines and air equipment to the canyon – the “medium response” that department guidelines dictate for an active fire – the blaze had grown and was moving too fast for containment.
Over the next six days the Canyon Fire 2 burned 9,200 acres, destroyed or damaged nearly 60 homes and forced thousands of people to evacuate their homes.