Growing up in Southern California I loved seeing the two enormous WWII balloon hangers when I traveled through Tustin. I was saddened when I learned that one of them burned down earlier this week.
From The Orange County Register:
A powerful fire ripped through one of two 17-story-high hangars still standing at the long-shuttered Tustin Marine Corps Air Station early Tuesday morning, Nov. 7, leading to a catastrophic collapse of most of the iconic structure’s outer shell.
Dozens of Orange County firefighters responded when the blaze was first reported at the north hangar just before 12:55 a.m. By midmorning, however, they stood by watching the structure burn, helpless to stop its demise.
Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Thanh Nguyen said sending firefighters into the building was too dangerous.
“The biggest fear is collapse and getting our firefighters injured,” Nguyen said.
The cause of the fire and where it began were not clear Tuesday.
No injuries were reported and firefighters did not believe anyone was inside the building when the fire broke out, Ngueyn said.
OCFA Chief Brian Fennessy said early Tuesday the fire was expected to stretch across the length of the hangar, which will ultimately need to be demolished. He said it could take a lengthy amount of time before the fire was out. When firefighters arrived, the blaze was intense.
“We expect the fire to continue … possibly until it gets to the other side of the hangar, and whether that be the end of the day, tomorrow — whether it stops at some point in between, we don’t know,” Fennessy said. “So at this point we’re standing back, keeping people and firefighters away and we’re watching.”
The Tustin Area Historical Society website has a great article about the history of the two hangers:
This base was built in 1942 as the Santa Ana Naval Air Station. The blimps were used to patrol America’s coastline primarily to watch for enemy submarines. The “Santa Ana” designation was included because it was located in unincorporated territory. According to some sources, in the early 1950s the facility was known as “Hangar City” during a period between being operated by the Navy and then the Marines. Later the name was changed to the Marine Corps Air Station Tustin.
The former Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Tustin (aka, Tustin Blimp Hangars) was initially established as a Navy lighter-than-air (LTA) base and commissioned in the fall of 1942. The station was used to support observation blimps and personnel that were necessary to conduct antisubmarine patrols off the Southern California coast during World War II. The facility served as an LTA base until 1949, when it was decommissioned. In 1951, the facility was reactivated to support the Korean Conflict. It was the country’s first air facility developed solely for helicopter operations. By the early 1990s, MCAS Tustin was a major center for Marine Corps helicopter aviation on the Pacific Coast. Its primary purpose was to provide support services and material for the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and for other units utilizing the base. About 4,500 residents once lived on the base, and the base employed nearly 5,000 military personnel and civilians. In addition to providing military support, MCAS Tustin leased 530 acres to farmers for commercial crop development. For many years, agricultural lands surrounded the facility. However, since the 1980s residential and light industrial/manufacturing areas have developed adjacent to the station.
On April 8, 1975, the two hangars were designated as National Landmarks and placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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