Fire at the Tustin blimp hangers

[Don65]

Massive fire burns through historic hangar at former air base in Tustin

A massive fire ripped through a historic hangar at a former air base in Orange County Tuesday morning, prompting a large response from fire crews.

abc7.com

doesnt look good

 

[JL95]

sad

 

[Deckin Around]

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]

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.

 

[85RiverRAT]

Just saw the smoke driving to the office. Sucks.

 

[Bajastu]

Super sad to see this. I would venture to say that there are quite a few people who want these gone. That property is prime real estate.

 

[Livewire Fabworks]

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]

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]

Sad deal, one of them will probably go now.

 

[boatpi]

Beyond sad, former mcas El Toro

 

[Deckin Around]

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.

 

[Bobby V]

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

There’s already a Costco across the street.

 

[mbrown2]

Sad

 

[Hydroman55]

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.

 

[JB in so cal]

Beyond sad, former mcas El Toro

Tustin

 

[riverroyal]

This is great news for IRVINE CO! lol.

 

[timstoy]

Said to see. I watched a story on the blimp hangers and I think they said the runways were several feet thick!

 

[Deckin Around]

This is great news for IRVINE CO! lol.

Navy still owns the land. They won't get rid of it until the toxic decontamination is done. YEARS

 

[poncho]

I worked in the one in Tillamook OR for a couple years, fascinating buildings .
One of 2 burned several years ago.

Stored Hay Fueled Fire That Destroyed Wwii Blimp Hangar | The Seattle Times

 

[Shane54]

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.

 

[gqchris]

I'm pretty sure Irvine Company is somehow behind this. Hate those clowns.

 

[havasujeeper]

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]

The same hanger that caught fire.

 

[Deckin Around]

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.

 

[jesco]

One of my employees just drove by it, said its just about all gone... 90% of it burned to the ground. Bummer, they are cool structures, and MASSIVE!!!

 

[sirbob]

I wonder who did that?

 

[Deckin Around]

OCFA decided to let it burn and fall they said.

this is a video of a really cool fire helo flyover

The Dirty Deuce ™️ on Instagram: "Repost: @ocfirefighters Incredible footage from your OC Firefighters Helo crew’s point-of-view during the Tustin Hangar Fire. #OCFA #TustinHangarFire #HistoricalLandmark #FirefightersInAction #therewhenyouneedus"

1,952 likes, 13 comments - thedirtydeuce on November 7, 2023: "Repost: @ocfirefighters Incredible footage from your OC Firefighters Helo crew’s point-of-view during the Tustin Hangar Fire. #OCFA #TustinHangarFire #HistoricalLandmark #FirefightersInAction #therewhenyouneedus".

www.instagram.com

 

[mbrown2]

OCFA decided to let it burn and fall they said.

this is a video of a really cool fire helo flyover

The Dirty Deuce ™️ on Instagram: "Repost: @ocfirefighters Incredible footage from your OC Firefighters Helo crew’s point-of-view during the Tustin Hangar Fire. #OCFA #TustinHangarFire #HistoricalLandmark #FirefightersInAction #therewhenyouneedus"

1,952 likes, 13 comments - thedirtydeuce on November 7, 2023: "Repost: @ocfirefighters Incredible footage from your OC Firefighters Helo crew’s point-of-view during the Tustin Hangar Fire. #OCFA #TustinHangarFire #HistoricalLandmark #FirefightersInAction #therewhenyouneedus".

www.instagram.com

View attachment 1299403

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

 

[C_J_J_C]

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]

History behind the two WWII blimp hangars built in 1942

The wooden hangars were originally built in 1942 to store large blimps that the U.S. Navy used to patrol the southern California coastline for enemy submarines during WWII.

www.cbsnews.com

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]

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.

 

[77charger]

Can’t get the land burn that shit fown I guess.

 

[Shlbyntro]

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

 

[poncho]

The same hanger that caught fire. View attachment 1299346 View attachment 1299347

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]

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]

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.

Tustin hangar will be razed

TUSTIN – A 17-story wooden hangar first used in World War II to house blimps will be demolished after the City Council unanimously decided Tuesday night to reject four proposals for the hanga…

www.google.com

 

[Boat 405]

Someone wanted that land....

 

[AQUA-HOLICS]

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]

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]

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]

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.

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

Probably cheaper that it "caught in fire" than it would be to demo it.

 

[HOOTER SLED-]

Which one burned? Closest to Costco near Tustin Ranch/Warner? Or the other one?

 

[AQUA-HOLICS]

During our academy we did live PIT training with the Marines CFR crews at LTA.

 

[DrunkenSailor]

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.

 

[AQUA-HOLICS]

Hanger #1 burned, near Redhill and Edinger.

 

[DrunkenSailor]

Gone

 

[SoCalDave]

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.

 

[riverroyal]

I'd like 100ft of the timber to build planter boxes
I think it would be cool to have some burnt up lumber with the history.
Charred a bit. Throw a few layers of resin on them.

 

[Willie B]

… 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