Garden Fire brings back memories of Lilac Fire in 2017

FALLBROOK, Calif (KGTV) — The Garden Fire was a stark reminder of the devastating 2017 Lilac Fire.
It destroyed 114 homes and damaged 55 others, and happened just northeast of Friday’s fire.
Next December marks seven years since the Lilac Fire ripped through Bonsall, bursting out of control after sparking during Santa Ana winds.
Friday, thankfully, was a much different story as crews were able to get control of the Garden Fire much faster.
North County Fire Battalion Chief Joey Bradshaw worked both fires. He remembers the Lilac Fire well and says conditions that December day were drastically different than Friday.
“The big difference was in 2017 we had 70-mile-an-hour winds, today we had 15-20 mile-an-hour winds,” says Bradshaw about the weather conditions.
Friday’s fire started just hours after the red flag warning had expired; by comparison, the Lilac started seven days into a Santa Ana wind event, scorching everything in its path.
Though the fire was seven years ago, it’s never out of mind for fire crews.
“It very much starts running through all of our heads here that we’re part of that incident, and many other incidents like it, where, here we go again,” says Bradshaw.
Bradshaw says lessons were learned during the Lilac Fire that were put into play during the Garden firefight, including setting up and organizing the incident to ensure safety and success.
For many, Friday was a flashback of what happened in the area and a reminder that we’re not yet out of the woods. As Bradshaw explains, though the red flag warning has expired, the brush is now dried out fuel.