Between 400 and 500 acres of range land and watershed on Mrs. Susan Bixby Bryant's Rancho Santa Ana were burned over by a fire about noon Friday about a quarter of a mile inside the entrance gate at Horseshoe Bend and raced eastward towards the great ranch house and widely known botanical gardens. Not until 9 o'clock that night was the fire under control and inside the control lines there was enough fire to keep out a patrol until the following Sunday noon. To ensure safety of the ranch house and gardens the firemen resorted to extensive back-firing.

Two State Forest Service trucks at the Yorba Linda station were the first to respond to an alarm. They were followed by trucks from Orange, Trabuco, San Juan Capistrano and Riverside county. The Santa Fe railway company sent a crew of 15 men to join the battle against the flames, the Irvine Company forwarded 20 more and a force of 50 turned out from the Rancho itself. In addition there were many volunteers from the vicinity.

The fire was not checked until it had burned to a point northeast of the ranch house, but at no point was the fire line nearer than a half a mile to the house and the famous gardens.

As nearly as the firemen could determine the fire originated in close proximity to the railway tracks, but they said they had no other evidence as to how it started.