CSUSB one year after the fire

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SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – One year ago this week, Cal State San Bernardino officials evacuated students and staff, picked up hoses and shovels, and prepared to fight back the approaching wildfires.

Driven by gale-force winds as the flames raced through San Bernardino County, the Old Waterman Canyon Fire hit the campus on Saturday, Oct. 25, 2003. It engulfed local mountains, hillsides and neighborhoods, leaving thousands to flee and eventually hundreds without a place to stay as flames gutted their homes.

The fires left their mark on the university, destroying one temporary building that contained five classrooms, damaging another temporary classroom and the temporary student fitness center. The fire burned much of the chaparral surrounding the campus and literally burned right up to Coussoulis Arena setting off exterior sprinklers in the doorways.

After students were evacuated the campus remained closed for several days, allowing cleanup crews to sanitize and deodorize dormitories, classrooms and offices. Despite the smell of smoke and gray sky, classes resumed on Wednesday, Oct. 29. Several weeks passed before the campus community returned to business as usual.

Combined with water damage and clean up costs, the fire caused $1.8 million in damages.

On Dec. 14, nearly two months later, the university and the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors held a ceremony at Coussoulis Arena saluting the many firefighters, law enforcement officers, emergency agencies and university staff that battled the Old Waterman Canyon Road Fire and the nearby Grand Prix Fire. Heavy rains did not deter the nearly 1,300 attendees who came to CSUSB to watch as university President Albert Karnig presented medallions to the heroes.

Earlier this year in August, nine members of the university’s facility services department received the Governor’s State Employee Safety Award for 2003 for their selfless acts of bravery and in taking the initiative in beating back the flames. As the wall of flames approached the campus from three sides, the men brandished fire hoses to push back the flames and douse buildings that were blanketed with wind-driven embers.

One year later there are few signs of the wildfires. The temporary buildings and classrooms have been replaced, repairs to the student fitness and recreation center have been made, and landscaping around the campus is as green as ever.

Ironically, almost one year to the date, the campus was forced to close again. This time, however, it was because of electrical outages caused by rain.

Smoke from the Old Waterman Canyon Fire a year ago this month darkend the sky above San Bernardino. The wildfire scorched a portion of the campus. Photo: Robert A. Whitehead/CSUSB