The blaze started about 10:30 a.m. Tuesday in Cajon Pass, a mountain pass between the San Bernardino Mountains and the San Gabriel Mountains.
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The Bluecut Fire, which erupted on Tuesday morning and has grown to cover some 18,000 acres of heavy brush in the Cajon Pass, was zero percent contained as of Tuesday night, fire officials said.
A state of emergency has been declared in East of Los Angele following Blue Cut fire explodes and goes out of control. On Monday, Brown issued emergency declarations for the Clayton fire and another in Central California, the so-called Chimney fire.
At one point six firefighters became trapped by the blaze while protecting homes and helping with evacuations in the Swarthout Canyon area west of Cajon Pass, the department said.
“The smoke is on the desert floor”, said Eric Sherwin of the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
At Blue Mountain Farms, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles in the town of Phelan, ranchers had to face the reality that a wildfire was burning in their area for the second time in two years.
Meanwhile, evacuations enforced due to another fire in Lake County were partially lifted after the blaze showed signs of fading, Berlant said.
At least a dozen homes have burned down as the flames gather pace through drought-parched canyons east of Los Angeles, with the fire now burning over 28 square miles.
In recent days, fast-moving wildfires have raced into mountain towns and even whole cities, blackening more than 300,000 acres and destroying hundreds of homes and structures.
Tolmachoff said it was rare to have so many people evacuated. They found shelter but two suffered minor injuries, officials said. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection spokesman Daniel Berlant said more than 100 homes burned but didn’t have the exact breakdown of residences, businesses and other buildings lost.
The Clayton Fire, now in its fifth day near Lower Lake in Lake County, has destroyed 3,929 acres as of this morning, however, containment markedly improved overnight to 40 percent, according to officials.
The region is under red flag warnings for high fire danger.
Pashilk has not been implicated in any of the three huge blazes that destroyed more than 1,000 homes in Lake County last summer.
The number of fires in the state has grown 20 percent over the last decade, going from more than 4,800 fires in 2006 to almost 5,800 fires in 2015, according to data from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
U.S. Forest Service firefighters stage before getting their assignment to cover a wildfire falls near the Cajon Pass in California..
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Damin Anthony Pashilk, 40, was arrested Monday on suspicion of multiple counts of arson, including setting the Clayton Fire over the weekend.
