The southbound lanes remain closed.
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All off-ramps will remain closed, the CHP said in a tweet. On Wednesday night the California Highway Patrol reopened the northbound side of the I-15. On Thursday morning California fire authorities assessed that the Blue Cut fire had grown overnight by nearly 5,000 acres (2,025 hectares), and is only 4% contained.
The blaze, which has scorched almost 58 square miles, was 26 percent contained.
Fire officials, who have described the fire’s intensity as highly unusual, expressed concern that “red flag” weather conditions would keep the area dry, hot and windy. Investigators have said the cause of the fire was arson.
It was revealed, however, that 96 homes and 213 outbuildings were destroyed by the blaze, majority in its first fierce days on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Stranded motorists trying to get to the High Desert and beyond were able to get back on the road. On Aug. 17, at 11:50 a.m. local time, NASA’s Terra satellite got a glimpse of the fire’s smoke plumes rising and spreading across the skies. Throughout the evening, flatbed trucks delivered concrete K-rails, which were being set up as barricades in areas where the guardrails had been burned.
Pitassi cautions, however, that there remains potential for explosive fire behavior. Ridge-top winds blew from the south-southwest and threatened to spread flames into the Wrightwood area through Slover Canyon at the top of Lone Pine Canyon.
“The biggest thing was, we had to continually retreat against that advancing wall of fire, and that was something that I haven’t witnessed in this section, ever”, said Eric Sherwin of the San Bernardino County Fire Department. Then the practice was credited with saving 15 to 20 buildings.
Thursday also allowed for an assessment of property damage. That information will help San Bernardino County decide what services, such as assessors, tax collectors and insurance companies, need to be brought to the neighborhoods that burned, Martinez said.
A group of animal rescue volunteers found the house in smoldering ruins – with no signs of the pets.
Michael Eberle, a resident of the affected area, said his family packed everything they needed to survive outside of the house as well as a folder of important papers in preparation for their evacuation.
Firefighters continue to battle flames that have climbed the rugged flanks of the San Gabriel Mountains, threatening communities including the ski town of Wrightwood at an elevation of almost 6,000 feet.
CAJON PASS, Calif., Aug. 18 (UPI) – The Blue Cut fire east of Los Angeles continues to scorch more acreage as firefighters struggle to gain control of the explosive blaze, which jumped to almost 36,000 acres on Thursday. The Blue Cut fire, as it has been named, has destroyed homes and disrupted transport links between California and Nevada.
“We have seen that throughout the state this year”, said Miller, who is assigned to San Bernardino National Forest. No estimates have come out yet for the number of decimated homes, the LA Times reported. It quickly exploded from a few acres to 300 and continued to grow at an alarming pace. A 2002 fire in Colorado produced a firenado that went rogue and traveled across a dry lake bed by itself.
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Lynne Tolmachoff, a spokesperson for Cal Fire, said they’re being used to cover fire stations while Cal Fire’s engines are out fighting wildfires.
