Dangerous, out-of-control wildfires persisted across the Southern California region on Tuesday even as a lengthy, triple-digit heat wave eased.
The Bridge fire burning in the Angeles National Forest north of La Verne since the weekend was at 3,786 charred acres by Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 10, and was still zero percent contained.
Fire activity in the northeast area of the fire has increased within the Sheep Mountain Wilderness, Angeles National Forest officials said.
As of Tuesday, the evacuation orders remained in place for Mt. Baldy Village as well as Camp Williams and the area near it. A new evacuation order was issued for Wrightwood, as well.
Firefighters have focused on the south side of the fire and were assisted by night-flying helicopters that dropped fire retardant on the wildfire for more than five hours. The south side along with the east and west flanks remain the top priority to protect communities, communication systems and power infrastructure, officials said.
Due to firefighters’ efforts in the south end of the fire, La Verne Fire Chief Chris Nigg on Tuesday, Sept. 10, wasn’t expecting any increased threat to La Verne.
“However, we are obviously monitoring,” he said.
The Bridge fire started in the East Fork Road area Sunday afternoon, Sept. 8; firefighters had not yet determined the cause.
The fast-moving Airport fire, which broke out in Trabuco Canyon near Rancho Santa Margarita on Monday, Sept. 9, swelled to more than 10,000 acres by Tuesday afternoon, fire officials said.
Fire crews had gained no containment of the blaze by Tuesday afternoon.
Early Tuesday, the blaze was burning toward the north and the east in the direction of the Ortega Highway and Riverside County and away from Rancho Santa Margarita, Capt. Paul Holaday of the Orange County Fire Authority said. Later in the afternoon, the fire jumped Ortega Highway and caused several areas in Riverside to be under evacuation orders.
Tal Hayes, fire chief for the Cleveland National Forest, said they are trying to survey damage to 36 cabins in Trabuco and Silverado Canyons.
The blaze was believed to have started unintentionally from the use of heavy equipment by an Orange County public works crew while placing boulders meant to replace barriers to restrict access to vegetation. It was first reported just before 1:30 p.m. Monday in the 32200 block of Trabuco Creek Road, Orange County Fire Authority Deputy Chief TJ McGovern said.
“The cause of the fire was a spark from heavy equipment,” McGovern said on Monday. “After placing a load of boulders, the operators began seeing smoke coming from the area of the loader’s basket.”
Although the massive Line fire in the San Bernardino National Forest is burning toward the resort community of Big Bear, incident commanders Tuesday were confident in firefighters’ ability to stop the march of the flames.
“Right now, the fire is laying down,” Cal Fire Battalion Chief Brent Pascua said at about 8:30 a.m. “Things are looking good as far as that section of the fire.”
Ground and air crews were focusing on that area, Pascua said. Officials had said at a news briefing Monday night that winds from the southwest were expected to push the flames through steep terrain and dry brush to the northeast toward Big Bear in the next 36 hours.
The problem persisted on Tuesday, with firefighters facing strong Santa Ana winds that picked up in the early morning and were expected to continue well into the evening, said Arnold Menjivar, a fire information officer.
An evacuation warning was issued for the Big Bear Dam area “out of an abundance of caution,” Pascua said.
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