Leslee Riddell’s cabin in Orange County’s Holy Jim Canyon was one of just seven to survive the Airport fire in September. Now, she’s doing everything she can to prepare the historic structure from the threats that winter storms and newly burned hills can bring: Floods, debris flows and mudslides.
Thirty-four cabins were destroyed in the wildfire. Riddell’s cabin is nestled in the Cleveland National Forest only a few miles from where the blaze began, and sits at the bottom of a potentially slippery, 1,000-foot canyon wall, making it particularly vulnerable.
“Everyone seems to think that our backyard is probably the worst of all as far as if there’s mud and debris and water flowing off the canyon walls… the soil is very loose and it won’t retain water because it’s been burnt. So, whatever’s up there, that can come down, it will come down,” Riddell said.
Similar threats loom over those living near burn scars from the other big Southern California wildfires this fall, including the Line fire in Riverside and San Bernardino counties, the Bridge fire in the Angeles National Forest and most recently, the Mountain fire in Ventura County in November.
“There is a very high concern that when we finally do get our big storm with some pretty intense rainfall then there is definitely a threat of mud and debris flows for all the major burn scars, said Peter Thompson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “They’re at the top of our attention for any upcoming winter storms over the next several months.”
Cabins sit under a canopy of trees in Holy Jim Canyon in Cleveland National Forest on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. The charred hillsides created by the Airport fire surround the community and pose a mudflow threat during winter storms. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Leslee Riddell’s cabin sits below charred hillsides in Holy Jim Canyon in Cleveland National Forest on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. The charred hillsides created by the Airport fire surround the community and pose a mudflow threat during winter storms. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Cabins sit under a canopy of trees in Holy Jim Canyon in Cleveland National Forest on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. The charred hillsides created by the Airport fire surround the community and pose a mudflow threat during winter storms. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Pete Anderson works to remove dirt from the solar panel above his cabin in Holy Jim Canyon in Cleveland National Forest on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. With vegetation gone after the Airport Fire, the soil keeps covering the panels. The charred hillsides created by the Airport fire surround the community and pose a mudflow threat during winter storms. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A burned cabin sits along Holy Jim Creek in Holy Jim Canyon in Cleveland National Forest on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. The charred hillsides created by the Airport fire surround the community and pose a mudflow threat during winter storms. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Cabins sit under a canopy of trees in Holy Jim Canyon in Cleveland National Forest on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. The charred hillsides created by the Airport fire surround the community and pose a mudflow threat during winter storms. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Leslee Riddell stands next to barriers she bought for the backyard of her Holy Jim Canyon cabin in Cleveland National Forest on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. The charred hillsides created by the Airport fire surround the community and pose a mudflow threat during winter storms. Her cabin is one of five that survived the fire. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Chain link fencing sits on the banks of Holy Jim Creek designed to catch debris in the event of a big storm in Cleveland National Forest on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. The charred hillsides created by the Airport fire surround the community and pose a mudflow threat during winter storms. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Cabins sit under a canopy of trees in Holy Jim Canyon in Cleveland National Forest on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. The charred hillsides created by the Airport fire surround the community and pose a mudflow threat during winter storms. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Leslee Riddell stands next to barriers she bought for the backyard of her Holy Jim Canyon cabin in the Cleveland National Forest on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. The charred hillsides created by the Airport fire surround the community and pose a mudflow threat during winter storms. Her cabin is one of the few that survived the fire. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Show Caption1 of 10Cabins sit under a canopy of trees in Holy Jim Canyon in Cleveland National Forest on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. The charred hillsides created by the Airport fire surround the community and pose a mudflow threat during winter storms. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
ExpandNormally trees and other vegetation help soak in rainfall. But when all that is burned by a wildfire, not only does the ground lose the erosion-preventing vegetation, the ground actually becomes hydrophobic – water-hating.
“Every raindrop that wants to fall pretty much can just start sliding downhill. When you have a lot of it focused in a short amount of time, you can start thinking about debris flow and ash and landslide concerns,” David Munyon, another NWS meteorologist, said.
First-year burn scars are particularly susceptible to debris flows due to the lack of vegetation and fine, loose, and hydrophobic material present in the freshly charred soil. Areas downhill or downstream of wildfire burn scars are at an increased risk of flash flooding and debris flow, especially steeply sloped spots.
Wildfires have burned over a million acres in Southern California this year, according to CalFire.
On September 5, the Line fire started and scorched over 43,000 acres in the San Bernardino National Forest. Arson was found to be the cause.
Three days later, on September 8, the Bridge fire began and ended up burning more than 56,000 acres in the San Gabriel Mountains stretching across both LA and San Bernardino counties. The cause of the Bridge fire is under investigation.
On September 9, the Airport fire, which was sparked by an Orange County public works crew, burned over 23,500 acres in the Cleveland National Forest in Orange and Riverside counties.
The federally led Burned Area Emergency Response team and the state’s Watershed Emergency Response Team projected that residents in Orange County canyon areas are likely to be evacuated at some point during this rainy season.
On Nov. 6, the Mountain fire broke out in Ventura County’s western Santa Susana Mountains and incinerated almost 20,000 acres. The cause is under investigation.
People living at the base of hills and mountains with burn scars are most at risk for mudslides and debris flows.
Riddell took a proactive approach in preparing her vulnerable cabin for future rain storms. In addition to acquiring dozens of sandbags, she and her husband bought barriers and had them installed along the cabin’s perimeter that faces the steep burn-scarred slope. Helping them was Team Rubicon, a veteran-led nonprofit organization helping communities with disaster prevention and relief. Orange County’s Airport Fire recovery manager connected Riddell with the nonprofit to help her come up with a plan to help prevent mudflow damage to her cabin.
“All of that should help mitigate it but we just don’t know, we have no idea … And the worst thing that could happen is there’s a big huge boulder up there that comes loose. It gets enough momentum from coming down, it comes off this wall, hits the barriers and goes straight into my canyon cabin and knocks a huge hole in it. I mean, that’s conceivable, it could happen,” Riddell said.
In 2005, a Silverado Canyon teenager was killed when a large boulder plowed through her room during a rock slide.
Preparing for a storm
Unsure if you live in a mudslide-prone zone?
“If you’re in any of the foothills where you have a hillside rising above you, and that area has been affected by a recent vegetation fire, err on the side of caution and assume that you are in one of those zones,” Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Greg Barta said.
Strategically placing sandbags around one’s property can help prevent flood damage. “Most of our problems are when water builds up along the edges of a structure,” said San Bernardino County Fire Department’s Battalion Chief Mike Wakoski in a Youtube video.
But, he added, “Never place sandbags on the outer wall of a building.”
Water absorbs through sandbags, builds up, and can seep into the structure. Instead, Wakoski said, place sandbags around doors and foundations. The goal is to have water run down and past the wall.
California’s Department of Water Resources created a video on how to effectively use and place sandbags. Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Capt. John Clingingsmith Jr. said sandbags should be filled halfway to two-thirds full. When placing sandbags in a row, they should be slightly overlapping, and subsequent rows on top should be placed in a staggered fashion.
But even sandbags won’t do much to divert large mudslides and powerful debris flows, according to Jayme Laber, a hydrologist with the NWS.
“Sandbags are limited in their ability to stop water,” Laber said. “If it’s any significant flow at all, sandbags probably are not the best technique.”
“The most effective thing is to make sure you have awareness if you are at risk, and be aware if local officials are communicating that to you, and then stay informed by having multiple ways to receive warnings and watches and...
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