Tustin Hanger (1942-2023)

Brian Resendiz

The Tustin Hangar Fire was a surprising– even shocking– event for many Orange County residents. For others it was the first they’ve ever heard of the hangars. Two months later, we now revisit the fire’s impacts, potential causes and what’s next for the hangars’ legacy.

In the early morning of November 7th, one of the two hangars caught fire. The Orange County Fire Department responded and attempted to extinguish the fire but it was so large that they decided it would be safer to just allow the hangar to burn. The smoke released asbestos into the air, which posed a safety hazard to local residents. In response, the Tustin Unified School District postponed school instruction for the following week and advised citizens to stay indoors.

The poor Tustin air quality even affected some OCSA students. When asked about her experience, Tustin resident Ava Mora (CMD ‘24) said, “It was definitely surprising. I was told not to drive down the street because [the hangar] was five minutes from my house. My best friend goes to the school right next to it so she has to go to a different high school until January.” Despite living so close to the fire, however, Mora wasn't terribly devastated: “I knew it used to be an old military base and grew up thinking it was cool, but … I’m doing fine. I have wondered how they are going to bring down the two doors; they’re made of concrete and … are standing only by a thread.”

It’s easy to brush it all off as an unfortunate event, but many people– many of whom have voiced their opinions on internet message boards–  claim it was bound to happen. Considering the hangar was constructed with wood, years of neglect and weather damage played big roles in the cocktail of a ticking time bomb. It’s theorized that there was no real desire by the US Navy to maintain the hangars, not only due to the costs, but also because of the large amount of asbestos embedded into the structure. All in all, if the hangar did not burn down, it would have been commissioned for deconstruction in order to make better use of the land.

Having spanned a colossal 1,000 feet in length and 17 stories high, the purpose of the hangar was to provide aid and resources for various military aircrafts– most notably blimps during WWII, which were used to scan the California coastline for enemy submarines. It was also a popular filming location for media such as “Pearl Harbor,” “Austin Powers,” “The X-Files” and a music video for Blink-182’s After Midnight. While the hangar fires are long over and Tustin residents have mostly recovered from any damages or hazards, we today mourn the loss of a monument in which lots of history happened, and in which Orange County may have been changed forever.