What started as a small brush fire Tuesday morning above Devore turned into a state of emergency dubbed the Blue Cut Fire, as the blaze scorched at least 18,000 acres and forced 82,000 people to evacuate their homes in San Bernardino County.
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The evacuation orders were given to the people in about 34,500 homes, San Bernardino County fire spokesman Eric Sherwin said.
The fire “has burned several homes and threatens thousands of structures” and “has caused injuries to firefighters and destroyed firefighting equipment”, according to the state of emergency statement issued by the state’s governor’s office.
Just hours after the 9-day-old Pilot Fire was declared contained Tuesday, another fierce, fast-moving wildfire broke out in the San Bernardino National Forest.
Wrightwood: Mandatory evacuations were ordered for an estimated 4,525 residents in the entire city of Wrightwood by fire officials.
Complicating the evacuation efforts even further, one of the region’s most important east-west routes, Interstate 15 through the Cajon Pass, is closed indefinitely due to the fire.
A wildfire destroyed at least 10 homes and forced some 4,000 of people to flee their homes in two Northern California towns Sunday as flames jumped a road and moved into populated areas.
The Lower Lake fire destroyed homes, businesses and other structures in the working-class town.
Phelan is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in San Bernardino County, California, in the Victor Valley of the Mojave Desert, north of the San Gabriel Mountains.
Pollema said she has worked with several of her neighbors to ensure that their properties are cleared of brush and anything else that could make them more flammable.
Less than 10 hours after igniting, a Southern California wildfire, burning uncontrollably, has engulfed 15,000 acres.
Highway 1 in central California has reopened after a daylong closure for removal of fire-weakened trees north of Big Sur.
“When I saw the fire coming over the ridge, I knew we didn’t have a chance”, David Barreda, who lost his home to the inferno, told SFGate.com.
Neither the California Department of Forestry, which led the investigation that resulted in Pashilk’s arrest Monday, nor the Lake County sheriff would discuss what led authorities to him.
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Roughly 1,600 firefighters are battling the blaze Tuesday through warm temperatures and light winds. As of 16 August 2016 the fire has burned 5,500 acres. It is 60 percent contained, but continues to threaten more than 400 structures.
