fire danger/risk for portola

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villiagepeople

New member
i was living at the village when the fires hit the foothills 3-4 years ago(?)... and when it hit i was in the middle of renewing and therefore needed to renew my renter's insurance... i remember the insurance lady saying that they were not issuing any insurance for the zip code 92618... i mostly remember reports of homes in danger in foothill ranch in the news.  i do not remember any mention of portola springs. 

does any one here remember how close the fires got to portola or if any of the homes were in danger?  did the residents have to evacuate? 

is irvine any better at keeping it's "open space" free of dead foliage than any other community? 

i know the north enclave is supposed to be the more exclusive enclave but does living south of portola parkway give the homes a "fire break"?

and finally, is their a premium for fire insurance because your home is in a "fire prone" area?
 
I don't know the answer to most of your questions but when I was shopping around for homeowners insurance companies, AAA would not insure my home because it was within XX number of feet to a hillside with a grading of XX (I cant remember).  They said they do not insure houses in those 'zones' because of the fire danger regardless of if the brush is properly maintained, etc.
 
I remember the area above where Sierra is got burned... you can go up there and see the old fire damage.

I also think they did evacuate Portola Springs during those fires too (as with Foothill Ranch).

Being close to brush in the hills is always a danger... even Turtle Rock was evacuated back in the early 90s.
 
I lived in Woodbury at the time and the fire got all the way to Portola and Sand Canyon, if Stonegate was there it might have been bad. I'm pretty sure they evacuated the Portola Place apartments, this video shows the fire and where it burned by there

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyiwFC53Hnw[/youtube]
 
I think that Portola Springs (at least part of it) got evacuated as a precaution.  The fire never reached.
I also heard that the Fire Insurance is much higher and harder to get in Portola Springs.
 
Here is what I wrote back in March 2008:http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/forums/viewthread/94/P150/#43433
"With the Great CA Fires still fresh on my mind, isn?t that whole area of OH considered a high fire danger zone. I like views and big lots but I also don?t want my biggest investment to turn into a BBQ.

I visited Portola Springs recently after the fire and you could see visible charred hills near the community and the sales agent said: ?At least you don?t have to worry about fire danger for another 5 years since it all burned down already!? I wasn?t sure to laugh or feel sorry for this guy?plummeting housing market and a huge fire next to the master planned community; he must of spent all night thinking of what to say to customers. "

Here is what Graceomaley wrote back in Feb 2010:http://www.talkirvine.com/index.php?topic=545.msg6834#msg6834
"Hey Frank did you forget a few things like cell tower antenna, high fire zone, 241 toll road where most fires had occurred on both sides frequently from Foothill Ranch all the way to Anaheim. Out of the numerous fires 5 incidents so far were caused by man. It is so easy to throw a cigarette out the window down hill toward PS heading 241 south bound or one incident caused by an over heated car. The santa Ana wind direction and gravity point directly toward PS. The velocity of wind is much greater going downhill.

Not to mention the average speed on Portola racing downhill often exceeded 75mph.

Oh well, the "butterfly" period of buying a home is always blinded like a romance. I would bet those for sale signs would all go up at the same time after the annual Santa Ana wind fire.

If you are looking for a the best deal in Portola Springs then you should buy in late october and pick a strong Santa Ana wind day to bargain with the seller. Even better when there is a fire occurring near by. Trust me it works. Make sure to bring along with you Frank's list to show the sellers why their property is worth so little due to environmental problems below grade, on grade and above grade. Use the negative positively."
 
The problem is that developers are building deeper into wildland areas with known histories of fires. We have the same problem in the Midwest with people building near the Mississippi River or in the South East with folks building on barrier islands--this just doesn't make sense. Why are tax dollars being used to fight a futile battle against Mother Nature?

Here is one more link to an old thread back in 2007 on IHB--Portola Springs Fire Redux:
Question: Will the Santiago Fire dissuade people from buying in Portola Springs and Orchard Hills?http://www.irvinehousingblog.com/forums/viewthread/1078/

I guess memories are VERY short and after 3+yrs the resounding answer is no, sheeple will still buy.
 
The fire did reach Portola Springs... drive up Smallgrove (at the top of Sierra) and look directly north... you'll see remnants of fire damage. I don't think the houses were built yet but it did reach there.

And Orchard Hills definitely had fire damage. You can see it from Portola Parkway.
 
Yes, it did go down even past Sand Canyon/Portola...I believe it went as far as the 261, as a Sheridan resident's backyard caught on fire.  I lived in West Irvine at the time and could see the flames from my window very closely.  Fire damage was VERY visible for more than a year after the fire on Portola Pkwy in OH, PS, etc, but now not so much.  But to answer your question, yes, it did hit and even pass Portola Springs, and Portola Springs was evacuated, as well as Northpark and possibly some areas of New-Northwood(?).  West Irvine went under voluntary evacuation, with some areas in Sheridan being under mandatory evacuation.
 
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