A scenic California mountain town walloped by a blizzard is now threatened by wildfire
RUNNING SPRINGS, California — In the Southern California mountain town of Running Springs, residents live between two scenic lakeside resorts. It seems like a serene place, but it’s also plagued by devastating snowstorms in the winter and threatening wildfires in the summer.
Niko Rynard is currently evacuated from his home due to the Line Fire, which has burned 150 square kilometers since the weekend.
About a year and a half ago, the director of the Running Springs Area Chamber of Commerce was racing down the mountains during a break in the incessant snowfall His neighbors called it “Snowmageddon.” The roads were blocked for days.
The 29-year-old, who moved to the region from the East Coast nine years ago, is now staying with friends nearby, but says others are spending hundreds of dollars cramming into hotel rooms until it’s safe to return.
The fire is one of three major forest fires that have devastated the mountains east of Los Angeles, destroying dozens of homes and forcing thousands to evacuate. Although California is only now experiencing the peak of its wildfire season, the state has already seen nearly three times as much area burned as it will in all of 2023.
Much of this, Rynard said, “is part of the area” and part of living in a beautiful area. He said longtime residents have told him that the massive wildfires are cyclical, like the snow.
To add to people’s nerves, Southern California was hit by a 4.7 magnitude earthquake. earthquake Thursday morning.
Running Springs is called the “Gateway to the San Bernardino Mountains,” and is more than a mile high. The town was one of the communities covered in snow when a blizzard hit the area in 2023. Now, the community has been doused in bright red fire retardant to protect it.
“It can be tough to live in these environments,” said Dawn Rowe, a San Bernardino County supervisor whose district includes mountain communities. “It’s a beautiful thing — a lot of people come and visit and find that for one reason or another, they want to move. I would encourage everyone to spend some time doing their due diligence.”
The Line Fire is burning through dense vegetation that grew after two wet winters in a row, with snowstorms that snapped tree limbs, leaving behind lots of “dead and deposited fuel,” said Jed Gaines, chief of the Cal Fire Operations Section. Another wildfire is threatening the mountain community of Wrightwood, about a 50-mile drive to the west.
The fires have threatened tens of thousands of homes and other buildings in Southern California since they escalated during a triple-digit heat wave over the weekend. Cooler weather helped firefighters slowly gain the upper hand in battling the blazes. No deaths have been reported, but at least a dozen people, mostly firefighters, have been treated for injuries, mostly related to the heat, authorities said.
In a daring rescue operation captured on videoCal Fire Riverside County Battalion Chief Mike Martinez rescued a lone woman walking near the Airport Fire in Orange County. He drove his SUV to the edge of the searing flames so she could get into the vehicle.
“This is one of those moments … that you hope you never have to experience,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “I’ve been doing this for almost 30 years. We’re used to extreme fire behavior, but to see a civilian walking down the street was surreal.”
San Bernardino County District Attorney Jason Anderson said Thursday that nine arson charges have been filed against a suspect accused of starting the Line Fire.
“This is particularly painful in a community that has unfortunately suffered the scourge of bushfires in recent years,” he told reporters, adding that the suspect’s vehicle has been linked to three areas where fires have broken out.
The suspect is due to appear in court on Friday.
The full extent of the damage caused by the wildfires remains unclear. The three fires are:
— The Airport Fire in Orange County, which has burned more than 36 square miles (93 square kilometers). The fire was 5% contained as of Thursday morning and was reportedly sparked by workers operating heavy equipment in the area. Ten firefighters and two residents were injured in the blaze, the Orange County Fire Authority said. The fire was difficult to contain because of the steep terrain and dry conditions — and because some areas hadn’t burned in decades.
— The Line Fire in the San Bernardino National Forest, which was 18% contained as of Thursday and threatened more than 65,000 homes. Three firefighters were injured in the blaze.
— The Bridge Fire east of Los Angeles, which grew tenfold in size in a single day, burning 80 square miles (207 square kilometers), at least 33 homes and six cabins, and forcing the evacuation of 10,000 people. The cause of the fire is not yet known. As of Thursday, the fire remained 0 percent contained.
In northern Nevada, the worst danger appears to have passed near Reno, where a wildfire on the eastern Sierra front forced 20,000 people to evacuate over the weekend. The blaze closed all schools for four days and threatened to burn across mountaintops into the Lake Tahoe basin.
A stretch of the state highway from Reno to Tahoe remained closed Thursday. Authorities further relaxed evacuation orders after 600 firefighters held fire lines despite winds of up to 70 mph (112 km/h) the day before and strengthened containment of the 9-square-mile (23 square kilometer) Davis Fire, now estimated at 37% containment. Most of the 8,000 residents who began the day under evacuation orders were downgraded to evacuation warnings, allowing them to begin returning to their homes.
“All containment lines … are still in place at this time,” Jason Clawson, an operations section chief for the federal firefighting team, said during a briefing in Reno Thursday night. “Absolutely no concerns. We have crews, equipment and engines spread throughout the fire.”
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Garcia reported from Wrightwood, Calif., Taxin from Santa Ana, Calif., and Rodriguez from San Francisco. Associated Press writers Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada; Amy Hanson in Helena, Montana; Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles and Thomas Peipert in Denver contributed.