The Lake Fire burning in rugged wilderness south of Big Bear Lake grew by more than 4,200 acres but was less active overnight, fire officials announced Friday.
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Authorities say about 120 firefighters working on a remote section of the fire will be flown out by evening until the danger passes. Rain could help control the fire, but lightning could spark new burns while erratic winds could drive the flames.
Monsoonal moisture will reach into the north state, bringing a chance of mountain thunderstorms through next week.
Authorities reopened a highway, and mandatory evacuations were lifted except for community of Burns Canyon. Pioneertown was under a voluntary evacuation. She could see a huge plume of smoke from the fire that ran onto a wildlife preserve 5 miles away.
Daniel Berlant of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection confirmed that five air tankers were ultimately forced to land due to the drone sighting. Several campgrounds were previously evacuated, and two highways remain closed.
The damage was limited to a single garage and the 350-acre blaze was 45 percent contained. No structures were damaged.
Not only has the Lake fire spread far and wide through parched and packed forest, its monster fingers have reached high into Southern California’s loftiest mountains, fire maps show.
In a dusty field, the Orange County crew practiced a ground fill, loading the helicopter from a fire truck, more slowlyl, but perhaps this year it’s the only way to drop water on some fires.
It charred about 33 square miles of old-growth timber and brush and was only partially contained.
He said he had been surprised when he heard someone had flown a drone into the fire area.
Almost 7,400 structures were threatened by the blaze, named the Lake Fire, according to a news release issued Thursday morning by the interagency fire management team. That will test the lines of containment set up and he said firefighters would be vigilant as the weather patterns change.
Through June 11, the Forest Service reported having spent $56 million fighting 1,455 wildfires nationally. “You could be costing another home to be burnt or another family to be evacuated, so it’s serious”, Hall said.
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