Andreas Frank watched from the second story of his ridge-top Laguna Niguel home as the hillside below began to smolder.
It was May 11, and his partner, Kamal Al-Faqih, was in the backyard grilling ribs in preparation for their nephew's high school graduation party. Frank banged on the window and pointed toward the smoke in nearby Aliso Woods Canyon.
Six minutes later — at 2:49 p.m. — the flames had grown, jumping to an adjacent ridge on the rolling hillside. He called 911. After that, it took less than 10 minutes for the inferno to double in size.
