Orange County’s parks have started healing from Canyon Fire 2, but the road to recovery is still a long one

Months after the Canyon Fire 2 raged through 9,000 acres in Orange, Anaheim Hills and Tustin, residents are once again able to enjoy large sections of nature parks that were burned, though it will be some time before the blackened land can fully be restored.
Residents joined a hike through the Fremont Canyon Nature Preserve in Irvine Regional Park on Saturday to have a look at the extent of the damage. Much of the damage caused by the fire took place on OC Parks’ land – about 7,000 of the 9,000 acres, officials said.
A group takes a tour of the Canyon Fire 2 burn area in Irvine Regional Park Saturday Feb. 3, 2018 in Orange. The 3 mile walking tour was led by Dave Wilson, right, a retired firefighter and volunteer with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy. (Photo by Greg Andersen, Contributing Photographer)A group takes a tour of the Canyon Fire 2 burn area in Irvine Regional Park Saturday Feb. 3, 2018 in Orange. The 3 mile walking tour was led by Dave Wilson, right, a retired firefighter and volunteer with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy. (Photo by Greg Andersen, Contributing Photographer)Gillian Martin inspects burned trees on a hillside. Martin works with Cavity Conservation Initiative to help save trees during a tour of the Canyon Fire 2 burn area in Irvine Regional Park Saturday Feb. 3, 2018 in Orange. The 3 mile walking tour was led by Dave Wilson, a retired firefighter and volunteer with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy. (Photo by Greg Andersen, Contributing Photographer)Dave Wilson explains how fire affects trees and holds up a piece of thick bark that helps protect the tree during fires during a tour of the Canyon Fire 2 burn area in Irvine Regional Park Saturday Feb. 3, 2018 in Orange. The 3 mile walking tour was led by Dave Wilson, a retired firefighter and volunteer with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy. (Photo by Greg Andersen, Contributing Photographer)Dave Wilson explains how California Sagebrush sometimes re-generates itself after a fire during a tour of the Canyon Fire 2 burn area in Irvine Regional Park Saturday Feb. 3, 2018 in Orange. The 3 mile walking tour was led by Dave Wilson, a retired firefighter and volunteer with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy. (Photo by Greg Andersen, Contributing Photographer)New growth springs up from a burned out bush during a tour of the Canyon Fire 2 burn area in Irvine Regional Park Saturday Feb. 3, 2018 in Orange. The 3 mile walking tour was led by Dave Wilson, a retired firefighter and volunteer with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy. (Photo by Greg Andersen, Contributing Photographer)Irvine Ranch Conservancy member Gordon Alexander photographs some of the burned hillside near the toll road during a tour of the Canyon Fire 2 burn area in Irvine Regional Park Saturday Feb. 3, 2018 in Orange. The 3 mile walking tour was led by Dave Wilson, a retired firefighter and volunteer with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy. (Photo by Greg Andersen, Contributing Photographer)A burned oak tree dominates the foreground in an eastern portion of the park during a tour of the Canyon Fire 2 burn area in Irvine Regional Park Saturday Feb. 3, 2018 in Orange. The 3 mile walking tour was led by Dave Wilson, a retired firefighter and volunteer with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy. (Photo by Greg Andersen, Contributing Photographer)Green grass is a sign that the area is in a recovery process after last year’s fires during a tour of the Canyon Fire 2 burn area in Irvine Regional Park Saturday Feb. 3, 2018 in Orange. The 3 mile walking tour was led by Dave Wilson, a retired firefighter and volunteer with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy. (Photo by Greg Andersen, Contributing Photographer)Signs of fire that burned brush beneath the toll road during a tour of the Canyon Fire 2 burn area in Irvine Regional Park Saturday Feb. 3, 2018 in Orange. The 3 mile walking tour was led by Dave Wilson, a retired firefighter and volunteer with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy. (Photo by Greg Andersen, Contributing Photographer)A group member photographs burned cactus in an eastern portion of Irvine Regional Park during a tour of the Canyon Fire 2 burn area in Irvine Regional Park Saturday Feb. 3, 2018 in Orange. The 3 mile walking tour was led by Dave Wilson, a retired firefighter and volunteer with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy. (Photo by Greg Andersen, Contributing Photographer)A burned hilltop shows the damage to native vegitation in Irvine Regional Park during a tour of the Canyon Fire 2 burn area in Irvine Regional Park Saturday Feb. 3, 2018 in Orange. The 3 mile walking tour was led by Dave Wilson, a retired firefighter and volunteer with the Irvine Ranch Conservancy. (Photo by Greg Andersen, Contributing Photographer)Show Caption of Expand
The Canyon Fire 2 scorched about half of Irvine Regional Park’s 475 acres, about 30 percent of Santiago Oaks Regional Park’s 1,269 acres, half of Peters Canyon Regional Park’s 340 acres and about a quarter of the 20,000 acres making up the Irvine Ranch Open Space.
Marisa O’Neil, spokeswoman for OC Parks, said it was a priority to get as much of the parks secured and opened to the public after the fire – some areas, such as the interior of Irvine Regional Park, were opened within a week.
“We’ve worked really hard to get areas open; we know these parks are near and dear to people’s hearts,” O’Neil said. “Not being able to go to them, and seeing them so damaged, is a hard thing. We have to balance the public access with helping the land recover and with safety hazards.”
In addition to Irvine Regional Park, parts of Peters Canyon and a large portion of Santiago Oaks are once again open to the public.
For the rest, the community can pitch in, but a lot of the restoration will have to be left to nature, O’Neil said.
“We’d like to get some rain. That’s going to be key to opening some additional areas,” O’Neil said. “It takes time and patience, and letting the land recover.”
More extensively damaged areas still have an element of risk, and remain closed to the public – including the east side of the lake in Peters Canyon and the creek area near the nature center at Santiago Oaks. The exterior trails north of the creek at Irvine Regional Park are also closed, but OC Parks crews hope to have them open in the coming weeks, O’Neil said.
Todd Spitzer, Orange County Supervisor for the 3rd District, where the fire largely took place, said the parks are important to the district’s residents, and that a recovery is going to be a joint effort between the county and nature running its course.
“I think everybody was shocked and devastated originally, but I think everyone sees that after the clean-up, both the county’s efforts as well as nature’s efforts will lead to a recovery,” Spitzer said. “The flora has obviously been significantly impacted, but I think people know it’s going to come back in time. I think we’re all optimistic about that.”
Get updates on what is open for hiking and recreation at ocparks.com/parks/canyon_fire_2.
Source: Oc Register