Ember From Cal Fire Pile Burn Sparked Lawler Fire Near Pine Cove in January

A Cal Fire project burn to reduce hazardous fuels in the San Jacinto Mountains in December helped ignite the wind-stoked, 15-acre Lawler Fire near Pine Cove in January, Cal Fire-Riverside County officials said Friday.

"CAL FIRE Investigators have determined the January 8, 2012 Lawler Fire was sparked by a deep seated ember from a department hazard reduction burn pile," a Cal Fire statement issued Friday afternoon said.

The hazard reduction project, conducted by Cal Fire, included burning piles of brush cuttings that had been cleared to provide defensible space around the community of Pine Cove, Cal Fire officials said.

"The hazard reduction pile burn had last been conducted by CAL FIRE three weeks earlier on December 19, 2011," their statement said.

The Lawler Fire was stoked by an unseasonable, dry, winter wind event in the project area known as Lawler Lodge, off Highway 243 and below Black Mountain, north of the community of Pine Cove, according to Cal Fire.

"A deep seated ember from the burn pile was fanned due to the 25 mph Santa Ana winds," the Cal Fire statement said. "The response to the Lawler Fire included 215 firefighters from CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire and the US Forest Service.

"Aggressive efforts by firefighters and the defensible space provided by the project's brush clearance aided firefighters in safely containing the fire to 15 acres during this significant winter wind event," the Cal Fire statement said.

The was first reported about 3 a.m. Jan. 8 in the Dark Canyon drainage near Highway 243. More than 200 firefighters and other personnel were assigned at its height, and it was declared on Jan. 10, Kate Kramer of the U.S. Forest Service said in January.

Two firefighters sustained minor injuries on the first day of the fire and they were both taken to a hospital for treatment, Kramer said.

Cal Fire and Forest Service crews perform hundreds of hours of brush clearance and fuel reduction projects every year. Forest Service crews from Banning, Mill Creek and Del Rosa north of San Bernardino conducted just last week at a co-op tree plantation on the north end of the Banning Bench.

Cal Fire is now reviewing its statewide and local hazard reduction burning procedures, the agency's statement said.