Evacuations, school closures and lightning strikes in California as Line Fire grows more than 23,000 acres
Mandatory evacuations were ordered for communities across San Bernardino County, east of Los Angeles, as the so-called Line Fire raged through woodland and burned through more than 23,700 acres by Monday night.
The fire in the foothills of the San Bernardino National Forest was 5% contained as of around 8 p.m. PT Monday, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CalFire. Residents in 10 areas, including Forest Falls, were ordered to leave immediately, while people in six other surrounding areas were under evacuation warnings.
More than 38,000 homes and other structures were under threat from the uncontrolled blaze, CalFire said. Some 1,700 fire personnel are working to contain the fire, as well as 15 helicopters and 195 fire engines. There are so far no confirmed deaths and only three injuries.
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday that the National Guard would support the state response to the Line Fire. “California stands with these communities and has their backs,” he said in a statement.
In nearby Orange County, south of Los Angeles, the so-called Airport Fire in Trabuco Canyon triggered mandatory evacuations for three areas and evacuation warnings for others. The fire began Monday afternoon and had ballooned to 1,900 acres by around 8 p.m. PT.
The Line Fire, meanwhile, caused the Bear Valley Unified and Redlands Unified school districts to cancel all classes Monday.
The fire’s spread comes after a period of extreme heat in California with triple-digit temperatures.
The heat surrounding the Line Fire reached such levels that it created its own weather system Saturday and produced thunderstorm-like pyroculumus clouds, or fire clouds, which were responsible for 280 lightning strikes hitting the ground, the National Weather Service said.
San Bernardino Fire Protection District Chief Dan Munsey said that when the Line Fire made a run toward the communities of Running Springs and Smiley Park on Saturday, they expected to lose houses. “We were sure of it,” he said at a briefing Monday.
But around 600 firefighters from neighboring counties surged into those mountains to protect them, and they also got a break from above, he said.
“To be frank, I want to thank God, too, for the rain that came right in the nick of time that dampened down that fire and allowed our firefighters to safely get in,” he said.
But the heat continued Monday. Downtown Los Angeles reached 104 degrees Monday afternoon. March Air Reserve Base in Riverside County, just south of San Bernardino County, reached 105, according to the National Weather Service.
The Bridge Fire broke out also in the Angeles National Forest, east of L.A., on Sunday and has burned almost 3,000 acres, CalFire said.
San Bernardino County officials, who declared an emergency Saturday evening, issued evacuation orders for Running Springs, Arrowbear Lake, areas east of Highway 330 and other regions.
Running Springs resident Steven Michael King said he had planned to stay to fight the fire and help his neighbors until Sunday morning, when the fire escalated. He had prepped his house to prevent fire damage but decided to leave out of fear that smoke could keep him from finding a way out later.
“It came down to, which is worse, being trapped or being in a shelter?” he told The Associated Press outside an evacuation center Sunday. “When conditions changed, I had to make a quick decision, just a couple of packs and it all fits in a shopping cart.”
Arrowbear Lake resident Michael Lee said he left his home with his dog Saturday afternoon. Lee, a photographer, had turned back to retrieve a camera and didn’t get to the evacuation center in Highland until nearly seven hours later.
“I wanna get back to home,” Lee told the AP sitting in his car outside the evacuation center. “The triple-digit weather down here is nasty.”
Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency for San Bernardino County Saturday night.
A small vegetation fire that started Sunday afternoon in Clearlake City, 110 miles north of San Francisco, was forcing roughly 4,000 people to evacuate and burning structures. Officials said at least 30 homes and commercial buildings were on fire. Firefighters said they were gaining ground against the blaze Sunday afternoon.
State officials said vegetation is critically dry in San Bernardino County and temperatures reached more than 100 degrees on Saturday, with relative humidity ideal for the fire to spread. The blaze began Thursday evening, and the cause is under investigation.
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