Wildfires Burning Up And Down California; Big Bear Lake Blaze Grows To 13,000 Acres
BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. (CBS/AP) -- Hot, dry California was beginning to feel the full brunt of fire season as blazes burned throughout the state, though most areas dodged any serious destruction.
As firefighters knocked down dozens of small brush fires from north to south, a fleet of helicopters took on what was by far the largest of the wildfires, in the San Bernardino Mountains.
That blaze grew to more than 20 square miles - about 13,000 acres - and was 10 percent contained as it pushed east through dense, old-growth wilderness in the towering mountain range that lies between inland cities east of Los Angeles and the Mojave Desert.
Helicopters were considered the best option for attacking the fire. Weather conditions were too turbulent for air tankers, said Lyn Sieliet, a U.S. Forest Service fire spokeswoman.
About 1,200 firefighters were working the blaze. None had been reported injured since the fire broke out for unknown reasons on Wednesday near one of the many permanent camps along state Route 38. The fire forced several hundred people to leave the camps and vacation homes.
The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for high temperatures through Sunday evening because of strong high pressure aloft. Mountain temperatures were predicted to range from 90 degrees at 6,000-foot elevations to 100 degrees at 3,000 feet. Humidity levels were low, which makes vegetation easier to burn.
About 150 structures, including old cabins and outbuildings, were threatened, but none was lost, Sieliet said.
The winds pushing the fire east carried the smoke even farther, into the desert and the Coachella Valley, where air-quality levels reached unhealthy levels Friday, the Air Quality Management District said.
The fire could eventually reach the desert, Sieliet said. Ten fire engines and a bulldozer were sent to patrol the Morongo Valley and Pioneertown areas at the east end of the mountain range.
The fire was not threatening Big Bear Lake, a year-round mountain resort destination to the north of the fire.
To the west, two firefighters were hurt and 1,000 people evacuated from homes as a 100-acre wildfire burned north of Los Angeles in the Santa Clarita area.
Houses and a mobile home park in the Newhall area of Santa Clarita have been emptied. About 30 horses also were taken to an evacuation center.
The fire began shortly after 1 p.m. Wednesday on the shoulder of Interstate 5, briefly closing freeway lanes.
Flames were very close to homes as wind gusts pushed huge flames through ridges and threw embers that erupted into scattered tongues of fire.
About 300 firefighters from the city, county and U.S. Forest Service crews were on the scene.
Also, a 1,000-acre fire in Madera County has destroyed three structures and brought the evacuation of a handful of homes. It was 5 percent contained.
Over 500 acres have burned in the Sierra National Forest, south of Yosemite National Park, where firefighters warned the blaze fed by heavy, dry brush could double in size in the next few days. Three air tankers were brought in to douse the blaze that was started by a vehicle, according to government reports. It was 15 percent contained.
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