Lost Valley's Fires and Fire Department:

Lost Valley Fire Department Logo.
Big Red, the current Lost Valley Firetruck.	Original LV Firetruck, 1966.

Lost Valley has been touched by many fires in it's history.  These are the fires that have been documented:

Please note: It is NOT the policy of Schoepe Scout Reservation at Lost Valley to actively fight fires.  All wildfires are reported to the California Department of Forestry (CDF) for additional handling. 

The Lost Valley Fire Department currently has one Firetruck and a Brush Truck. 

 1911: (August) A fire started by two careless campers sweeps through Lost Valley and onto the Los Coyotes Indian Reservation. The old Stone Brothers cabin is destroyed.

The Stone Brothers cabin, 1900.

1944: (September) A fire on the Los Coyotes Indian Reservation spreads into Lost Valley and Arlie’s barn is burned. To fight the fire, the first road (the Indian Road) is cut into Lost Valley by the Forest Service.

Arlie's log barn circa 1920.

1964: (July) A fire on the Los Coyotes Indian Reservation threatens the valley. A fire camp is established in the Field Sports Meadow and the troops are all moved to the main meadow

Fire Camp, 1964.

1978: (June 30 ) A smoldering campfire ignites the first destructive fire in the camp’s history. Three or four acres north of Valley’s End (G-3) are burned. Outside crews and fire bombers are brought in to fight the fire.

1986: (June 29) A 70-acre fire burns through the middle of camp, destroying the original stables.

Stables fire, 1986.

In 1986, Lost Valley Scout Reservation suffered its first major fire. It began in the creek bed, below the upper dam, accidentally set by Scouts playing with matches. It spread rapidly up into Irvine, burning trees and brush. Two campsites were destroyed before it reached the Stables, which burned hot and fast. The fire continued up along the pasture, through the Fern Grove (now a part of the COPE course) and began jumping east. The furthest spot fire was at the mouth of the canyon, beyond Cathedral Rocks. At its peak, there were more than 200 firefighters on the line. All in all, about 71 acres were burned over, but fortunately, no one was seriously hurt.

The hardest blow was the loss not just of the Stables, but of all the saddles and tack (the horses had been let out and grazed peacefully in the main meadow during the blaze). In 1987 a new pole barn Stables was built on the old site.

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2002

(August) The 61,000-acre “Pines Fire” turns towards Lost Valley, burning onto the Los Coyotes Indian Reservation. Camp is evacuated for a week as a precaution.

2003  

July 16, 2003 at 1:19 p.m.: Lighting strikes several miles north of Lost Valley Road starting the “Coyote Fire.” Camp evacuated by 5:30; the fire crosses the road thirty minutes later. The fire burns 18,705 acres total. The fire burned for more than a week, and firefighters were barely able to turn it to avoid the main part of camp.  800 acres of camp burn including nearly a quarter of the meadow and three Grace campsites. Summer camp is disrupted for three weeks during the fire and subsequent clean-up operations.  The "Coyote Fire" is currently the most destructive fire in Lost Valley's history. 

2003 Coyote Fire Pictures:

Start of fire, 7/16/2003.	Coyote Fire in camp, 7/18/2003.	Coyote Fire.
Boneyard on fire, 7/18/2003.	Coyote Fire and backfire meet, 7/18/2003.	Coyote Fire at night.	Lost Valley Fire Crew members watch the fire burn.
Trees after the fire.	Cat Road after fire.	Lost Valley Road after fire.

Lost Valley Fire Crew, 2007.

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