On November 7th, the Tustin hangar caught on fire. The hangar is a historical location built in 1942 to store blimps from World War II. According to Tustin History, “Its primary purpose was to provide support services and material for the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing and other units utilizing the base…The blimps were used to patrol America’s coastline primarily to watch for enemy submarines. “

The ongoing fire has caused worry in students at CdM as the trails of smoke made their way to Newport. Amelia Zehenni, a Junior at CdM, voiced, “It was sad…such a big piece of history because it’s been there for a while.” Zehenni continued, ” I drove by it not even a week ago. It was still on fire because the structure is so massive.” Mikayla Roby, a Junior at CdM, expressed, “I was upset [because now when] you’re driving past [the hangar], it’s not going to be [there] anymore.”

When asked what the hangar was to her when she was younger, Zehenni commented, “My dad would always tell me that they stored [things like] the helicopters, the blimps during World War II.” Roby remarked, “I thought it was neat and big because planes went in there.”

However, smoke always follows fire, and the hangar fire made smoke affect the air quality at CdM. On this matter, Roby shared her experience when she was younger saying, “I vividly remember going to the OC Fair during one of the big fires in the Tustin area in 2016, and the entire sky was yellow, smoky, and you couldn’t see more than 20 feet ahead of you because of the smoke.” and this recent fire sparked that memory.