Chaparral

When he lost his mother to pancreatic cancer and later his home to foreclosure, Tom Leach turned to his boys, just as Matt Logan did when his wife was dying of breast cancer and his three young daughters needed him more than ever. The reassurances were modest, provided by teenagers who did little more than show up each day. And yet they conveyed a world of meaning to the men whose lives they continually brightened. "Some people need football more than football needs them," Leach says.

Rick Halsey is in search of senile shrubs. He rolls up California 79 in his Chevy pickup across the high tablelands of eastern San Diego County. Past a little adobe chapel from the Mexican era, he turns onto an unpaved road. He bumps along in low gear as the road rises into the granite mountains as a brilliant sliver of scarified earth, passing through gnarled stands of manzanita, red shank and chamise. In a shallow basin called Indian Flats, he comes to an abrupt stop.

Recent downpours have turned Orange County foothills charred by October's ferocious Santiago fire a vivid emerald green. From a distance, the explosion of life offers a powerful testament to nature's resilience. Up close, it also provides a worrisome omen for the months ahead.

Nine hikers were evacuated by helicopter Sunday afternoon after a chaparral fire broke out below them at the edge of the Angeles National Forest, authorities said. Authorities said perhaps 40 to 70 more hikers and campers were evacuated on foot from the popular recreational area after the fire was reported at 1:18 p.m. north of Loma Alta Drive at Lake Avenue. The fire charred 12 acres of steep terrain before its main area was under control about 4:40 p.m. Full containment was reported at 8 p.m.

Secretly, as the Mira Costa girls' volleyball team paved a path of destruction through the playoffs, Coach DaeLea Aldrich had dreaded the moment that finally arrived Tuesday night. The Mustangs lost a game, something they hadn't done since Nov. 5. With only one senior starter, Aldrich was concerned how her team would respond under the playoff pressure. Turns out, there wasn't much to worry about.

Temecula Chaparral and Santa Ana Mater Dei seemed to be on a collision course to meet in the championship match Saturday at the Torrey Pines girls' volleyball tournament. Chaparral came into the tournament ranked No. 13 in the nation by prepvolleyball.com, one spot ahead of its semifinal opponent, Carlsbad La Costa Canyon, which it defeated this season at the Las Vegas Durango tournament. On an adjacent court, Mater Dei faced the No. 2 team in the country, San Jose Mitty. The No.

Colorful housing tracts and sprawling shopping centers continue to pop up in South Riverside County. But they aren't the only things sprouting from this once-barren landscape. Volleyball is also taking root, particularly at Temecula Chaparral High, where the girls' team has become one of the best in Southern California. It hasn't taken long. Chaparral, which opened in 1996, won its first Southern Section championship last season and, with a record of 9-2, is ranked second in Division I-A.

Lindsey Nelson of Villa Park and Celia Durkin of Calabasas, who were both beaten last year by eventual champion Elizabeth Exon of Irvine Woodbridge, will meet in one semifinal match of the Southern Section individual tournament today at SeaCliff Country in Huntington Beach.

Let's learn from the recent fires. As a member of Supervisor Tom Wilson's South County Outreach and Review Effort, I have been involved for over a year in a study of the Rancho Mission Viejo Development Plan. I spoke out strongly against development in the San Mateo watershed and Verdugo Canyon. Homes in Southern California chaparral areas are prone to destruction by fire. The Rancho Mission Viejo Development Plan proposes to disperse about 100 expensive home sites through the upper San Mateo watershed and Verdugo Canyon in these chaparral and grassland areas.

As they have many times in the past, this year's most destructive wildfires are burning primarily in chaparral, the brush lands that are the perennial stepchild of wildfire funding and management. It is the forests of pines that get the attention. When President Bush announced his Healthy Forests Initiative to combat Western wildfires, it was in Oregon timber country.