Firefighters hope cooler weather will aid their battle against 3 major Southern California fires
WRIGHTWOOD, California — Firefighters battle three major forest fires in the mountains east of Los Angeles took advantage of cooler weather on Wednesday and slowly gained control, but not before dozens of homes were destroyed and thousands of people were forced to evacuate.
California is just entering its wildfire season, but nearly three times as much land has already burned than will burn in all of 2023. The wildfires have threatened tens of thousands of homes and other buildings in Southern California since they began accelerated during a heat wave with temperatures above 30 degrees last weekend.
No deaths have been reported, but at least a dozen people, mostly firefighters, have been treated for injuries, mostly caused by the heat, authorities said.
In the small community of Wrightwood, about 90 minutes outside Los Angeles, authorities urged residents to flee an exploding bridge fire that has destroyed more than a dozen homes in the area.
Resident Erin Arias said she ran up the mountain when she was ordered to leave and did so, taking her passport and dog with her. On Wednesday, she and her husband dumped water on the roof of their surviving home. Their cat was gone, she said.
“It’s really scary,” Arias said, looking at the burnt embers of her neighbor’s house. “We’re really lucky.”
Climate scientist Daniel Swain of UCLA said the fire spread extraordinarily quickly across complex terrain, likely giving residents less time to evacuate than normal. Even seasoned firefighters were caught off guard.
The bridge fire “had to burn up mountainsides, down slopes, jump valleys, burn over new ridges and then essentially burn down the slope at least two more times in one fire period,” he said.
The full extent of the damage caused by the fires remained unclear. The three fires are:
— The Orange County airport fire, which has burned more than 35 square miles (91 square kilometers), was 5% contained as of Wednesday evening and was reportedly caused by heavy equipment working in the area. Orange County Fire Chief Steve Concialdi said eight firefighters were treated for injuries, mostly heat-related. One resident suffered smoke inhalation and another had burns, he said. Several homes burned in El Cariso Village.
— The Line Fire in the San Bernardino National Forest, which was 18 percent contained as of Wednesday and had burned 57 square miles (148 square kilometers). The blaze has injured three firefighters. Authorities said it was caused by arson in Highland. A suspect was arrested Tuesday.
— The Bridge Fire east of Los Angeles, which grew tenfold in size in a single day, burning 78 square miles (202 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. The fire remained 0 percent contained as of Wednesday evening.
Gov. Gavin Newsom sent National Guard troops to assist with the evacuations, and the White House said President Joe Biden was monitoring the situation.
In El Cariso Village, a community of 250 people along Highway 74 in Riverside County, an Associated Press photographer saw at least 10 homes and several cars engulfed in flames.
Orange County Fire Chief Kevin Fetterman said the fire was difficult to fight because of the terrain, dry conditions and because some areas hadn’t burned in decades.
More than 5,500 homes in Riverside County were under evacuation orders, affecting more than 19,000 residents. Several recreational cabins and structures in the Cleveland National Forest were damaged.
In San Bernardino County, about 65,600 homes and buildings were threatened by the Line Fire. Residents along the southern edge of Big Bear Lake were told to evacuate Tuesday.
The Line Fire left a thick cloud of dark smoke over the area, providing shade for firefighters trying to avoid gusts of wind later Wednesday, said Fabian Herrera, a spokesman for the Line Fire response.
A Norco man suspected of starting the Sept. 5 Line Fire has been arrested and charged with arson, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said. Officials did not specify what was used to start the blaze.
Investigators collected evidence from the man’s vehicle and home indicating he may have been involved in setting other fires, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said Wednesday.
On the Nevada-California border near Reno, the Davis Fire forced thousands of people to evacuate over the weekend. It destroyed one home and a dozen buildings and burned nearly 9 square miles of timber and brush along the eastern border of the Sierra Nevada.
Rich Meyr and Evelyn Kelley were the first to arrive at an evacuation center set up Wednesday at a recreation center in south Reno. Both said they refused to evacuate because of previous fires, but decided to play it safe this time.
“My son’s wedding is Saturday. I threw all the flowers and dresses in the camper and we left. It looks like a garden store in that camper,” Kelley said. “But who wants to burn alive?”
More than 600 firefighters held back the blaze Wednesday, despite high winds that grounded all planes that had been dumping retardant on the flames for the past two days. The fire was about 30% contained by Wednesday evening.
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Thayer reported from El Cariso Village, 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.