While the City Fiddled,

the Beach Burned

Every year the rain washes bushes, trees and lumber into the ocean, often flushing it down creeks and riverbeds. In the south Orange County area around Dana Point, the debris washes down the San Juan Creek. (Long-time residents are also familiar with the fact that snakes have been known to wash down too, and the beaches can be dangerous for the uninformed, especially right after a big storm.) The El Nino weather has had a tremendous impact on the local area, leaving a bigger-than-usual pile of debris on Doheny State Beach, which some foolish individual lit on fire on or about 17 April. Visitors to the beach the following day found a smoldering fire that the Orange County Fire Authority declined to extinguish until the early afternoon. By that time the fire had spread down the beach, and was a gigantic mess.

"The fire authority was called Friday night, but they said that because there was no structure involved, they would not come out that night," explained Ranger Jodie Kummer, of the Doheny State Park. Kummer added that the debris will probably be stacked on a truck and hauled away within a couple of weeks. (No one ever accused the state park service of doing anything with haste. DP Online)

Meanwhile, a more pressing and potentially dangerous problem looms in the contamination of local waters by sewage. According to Larry Honeybourne, program chief of Orange County Environmental Health Water Quality Division, the beaches in Dana Point remain closed due to unhealthy levels of fecal coliform counts. Still closed this week was the stretch of water from the San Juan Creek, north to the jetty; according to the County, the beach from San Juan Creek south is open. (Before risking yourself, you might want to call the County, to be certain it is safe). The 24 hour Water Quality hotline is 667-3752.

SOURCE: Information for this article was derived from the Dana Point News, owned by Orange County Register.

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