WELCOME TO RIVER DAVES PLACE

Fire at the Tustin blimp hangers

Deckin Around

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 18, 2010
Messages
2,643
Reaction score
6,617
most people didn’t know those are wood structures. (there is 2) They were deemed historical landmarks which is why they are still there . I grew up in Tustin in the 80’s and remember watching the huge black plumes of smoke almost daily from burning helicopter fuel and oil. That place is considered a waste dump, there will not be any houses there until they scrape off the top 70-100ft of dirt. Same thing at the old El Toro base which is now the Great Park.
 

Desert Whaler

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 28, 2020
Messages
4,826
Reaction score
17,717
If it wasn't started by the homeless / tweakers, my money is arson /insurance.
I went in one of them just a few years back . . . totally forgot how big they are.
When they were operational, they had crews constantly going around tightening nuts/bolts to keep them structurally sound.
Big time bummer.
 
Last edited:

85RiverRAT

Working my way up!
Joined
Mar 20, 2012
Messages
337
Reaction score
720
Just saw the smoke driving to the office. Sucks.
 

Livewire Fabworks

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 9, 2017
Messages
636
Reaction score
1,146
I was told that this was still there due to the cost to demo it. Home builders have been after this land for years.
 

DarkHorseRacing

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 14, 2014
Messages
6,349
Reaction score
12,521
Real estate prices being what they are, that’s too much land to just sit there when money could be made of it. It smells fishy that it just goes up in smoke.

Maybe not homes as someone said, but could be something like a retail mall or something not residential. Another Costco?
 

Yldboyz

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2009
Messages
5,717
Reaction score
2,801
Sad deal, one of them will probably go now.
 

Deckin Around

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 18, 2010
Messages
2,643
Reaction score
6,617
Real estate prices being what they are, that’s too much land to just sit there when money could be made of it. It smells fishy that it just goes up in smoke.

Maybe not homes as someone said, but could be something like a retail mall or something not residential. Another Costco?
😁Literally the closest building to the hangers is a Costco in the Tustin "District." That retail mall is newer and has all the big name stores, restaurants, movies, entertainment, bars etc. already and there is another smaller shopping center on the other side of the hangers. I bet more 8 story apartment homes "low income" not retail.
 
Last edited:

Hydroman55

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 7, 2018
Messages
1,298
Reaction score
3,156
😁Literally the closest building to the hangers is a Costco in the Tustin "District." That retail mall is newer and has all the big name stores, restaurants, movies, entertainment, bars etc. already and there is another smaller shopping center on the other side of the hangers. I bet more 8 story apartment homes "low income" not retail.
Pomona Fairgrounds destiny also.
 

timstoy

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2008
Messages
2,267
Reaction score
5,064
Said to see. I watched a story on the blimp hangers and I think they said the runways were several feet thick!
 

Shane54

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 8, 2011
Messages
304
Reaction score
203
This is a huge bummer, but since these we made of mostly wood, the sun had baked it pretty bad. I was over there this weekend and thought to myself that they were really looking dilapidated and appeared to be a bunch of termites holding hands.
 

havasujeeper

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 4, 2014
Messages
2,729
Reaction score
5,442
I remember seeing those hangers while headed to Laguna as a little kid. I knew we were getting close when we passed them.
 

AQUA-HOLICS

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2008
Messages
150
Reaction score
293
The same hanger that caught fire.
IMG_3346.jpeg
IMG_3345.jpeg
 

Deckin Around

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 18, 2010
Messages
2,643
Reaction score
6,617
I'm pretty sure Irvine Company is somehow behind this. Hate those clowns.
😁
IC owns 1/5 of Orange county, still has 60,000 undeveloped acres and Bren is worth 15+ billion. I don't think they needed to burn down the hanger for land that is owned by the Navy and then will be conveyed to the city of Tustin like the rest of the base was.
 

Deckin Around

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 18, 2010
Messages
2,643
Reaction score
6,617
OCFA decided to let it burn and fall they said.

this is a video of a really cool fire helo flyover




0F0741AC-233A-474D-A513-B53DE3E0B98B.png
 

mbrown2

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2007
Messages
7,887
Reaction score
5,777
OCFA decided to let it burn and fall they said.

this is a video of a really cool fire helo flyover




View attachment 1299403
Probably best ...just reduces the cost/time for demo.....let it burn and clean up the ashes......
 

C_J_J_C

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2021
Messages
852
Reaction score
2,656
100% intentional or at least not prevented.

The land around them was given to the City of Tustin but the hangers still belong to the Navy. The City of Tustin wants the land.......

The City of Tustin has tried to demolish this exact one for over 5 years saying they want park space and even said they needed the parts from this one to fix the other one, which they have been promised by the Navy after clean-up, but they are both historical landmarks and could not be demolished.

I bet Tustin gets the land and their park now. This is worth 100s of millions.
 

OC Mike

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 14, 2018
Messages
1,041
Reaction score
2,450

The hangars are listed as two of the largest wooden structures to ever be built in the world and they are classified as historic civil engineering landmarks in the United States
 

rrrr

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 19, 2007
Messages
15,709
Reaction score
34,845
I've seen the blimp hangers at Moffett and Lyndhurst, NJ (where the Hindenburg crashed and burned) but not those at Tustin. These monuments to early Naval Aviation will all be gone someday. That's sad.
 

Shlbyntro

Ultra Conservative
Joined
May 27, 2018
Messages
7,744
Reaction score
22,577
Oh the Humanity!

sorry, I had to say it

in all seriousness tho. it's sad to see another historical structure go. would've been nice if they could have found a use for and maintained it properly so that this wouldn't have happened
 
Last edited:

poncho

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2007
Messages
5,863
Reaction score
10,007

100% intentional or at least not prevented.

The land around them was given to the City of Tustin but the hangers still belong to the Navy. The City of Tustin wants the land.......

The City of Tustin has tried to demolish this exact one for over 5 years saying they want park space and even said they needed the parts from this one to fix the other one, which they have been promised by the Navy after clean-up, but they are both historical landmarks and could not be demolished.

I bet Tustin gets the land and their park now. This is worth 100s of millions.
Rumor was when I was working in Tillamook that with 2 hangars they were losing money, just one would be a profit.
Fill it with hay and straw then act surprised when it mysteriously caught fire.
I have no idea but that was the town chatter.
 

Riverbottom

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2007
Messages
2,423
Reaction score
2,672
When I was young, my dad took me there and we watched stunt pilot Paul Mantz fly an airplane in one door and out the other side. The hangers are huge. Worked right across the street from the burning one for several years. Drove past them two weeks ago. Sad to see this.
 

C_J_J_C

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 16, 2021
Messages
852
Reaction score
2,656
Rumor was when I was working in Tillamook that with 2 hangars they were losing money, just one would be a profit.
Fill it with hay and straw then act surprised when it mysteriously caught fire.
I have no idea but that was the town chatter.

100%. All the way back to 2007 Tustin said they could only use one and even voted in a public meeting to demolish one. Tustin was swiftly reminded by the Navy 1- Tustin didn't own it yet and 2- they are historical monuments.

 

AQUA-HOLICS

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 24, 2008
Messages
150
Reaction score
293
We would show up when the Goodyear blimp was housed for maintenance, it was a tiny dot in the corner of the hanger. Was given a walk through of the cat walk system from the military on how to get to the roof, the creeks it made with every step made the hair on the back of your neck stand strait up.
 

poncho

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2007
Messages
5,863
Reaction score
10,007
We would show up when the Goodyear blimp was housed for maintenance, it was a tiny dot in the corner of the hanger. Was given a walk through of the cat walk system from the military on how to get to the roof, the creeks it made with every step made the hair on the back of your neck stand strait up.
I went up once, that was more than enough.
 

4Waters

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2016
Messages
33,752
Reaction score
85,275
I was just looking at the size of these hangers and compared it to the USS George H.W. Bush. That aircraft carrier will for the most part fit in the hanger, 20 feet will stick out of the end and the hanger and the island is about 40 feet to tall. The hanger is 40 feet wider than the beam. Now that's a nice boat garage
 

4Waters

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 28, 2016
Messages
33,752
Reaction score
85,275
We would show up when the Goodyear blimp was housed for maintenance, it was a tiny dot in the corner of the hanger. Was given a walk through of the cat walk system from the military on how to get to the roof, the creeks it made with every step made the hair on the back of your neck stand strait up.
post-2-0-39787200-1418832333.jpg
download (2).jpeg
nswleh-03.blimparrives.js.jpg
 

HOOTER SLED-

Supercharged MOTORBOAT!!!
Joined
Dec 19, 2007
Messages
27,064
Reaction score
23,681
Which one burned? Closest to Costco near Tustin Ranch/Warner? Or the other one?
 

DrunkenSailor

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 11, 2017
Messages
7,684
Reaction score
10,936
Which one burned? Closest to Costco near Tustin Ranch/Warner? Or the other one?

The other one.

I just drove right by it. There were people pulled over taking pictures. It was dark and I couldn't really see much but as I passed it it looked like the door was standing but nothing else. I only got a fleeting look I hope I'm wrong. My great grandpa was a contractor and helped build those. Such a bummer.
 

SoCalDave

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 1, 2011
Messages
13,247
Reaction score
30,709
Heard on KFI this evening that there were never any fire hydrants installed on the base when these structures were built in 1942(?). The nearest one the FD was able to connect to was over a 1,000ft away. Pressure drop at that range...let it burn to the ground which they did. Sad to see it go this way.
 

Willie B

aberrant member
Joined
Sep 7, 2008
Messages
9,112
Reaction score
10,188
… Very sad to me…probably late ‘66 early ‘67 when I was working in electronics for Litton Data Systems…we had one of our AOC systems down there… near the hangers… that was all hooked up for final testing before going over to Vietnam for the war effort… Some of the electronics needed to get the latest updates and revisions…I remember driving down there in the dark in my 63 Pontiac Grand Prix… we referred to that particular system as MACS 3…Damn🤷🏽‍♀️
 
Last edited:
Top