“There will be a lot of families that come home to nothing”, San Bernardino County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig said after a morning flight over a scene he described as “devastating”.
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The Southern California wildfire that began as a small midmorning patch of flame next to Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass had by Tuesday’s end turned into a 28-square-mile monster that had burned an untold number of homes. The proclamation provides more state resources to firefighting efforts and grants certain benefits to affected residents, such as waiver of fees for destroyed documents and faster unemployment benefits.
A day after it ignited in brush left tinder-dry by years of drought, the blaze had spread across almost 47 square miles and was raging completely out of control.
For the latest updates on evacuation orders from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, follow this link.
The fire forced a shutdown of part of Interstate 15, leaving commuters and travelers stranded for hours.
Almost a decade ago, Pashilk was an inmate firefighter while serving time on drug possession and firearms charges, according to California corrections department spokeswoman Vicky Waters.
A 40-year-old man was charged with arson in connection with the blaze late Monday, police said. Nearly two thousand hectares have been destroyed around the area of Lower Lake.
He was paroled in July 2007.
Cars destroyed in the Clayton Fire are seen in Lower Lake, California, August 15th, 2016.
“In my 40 years of fighting fire, I’ve never seen fire behavior so extreme as it was yesterday”, said Mike Wakoski 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.
The area contains several dozen large homes and horse ranches.
Flames danced in every direction along ridges of bone-dry canyons, chewing through drought-parched grass and stands of brush.
Evacuated areas included the ski-resort town of Wrightwood, where some 4,500 people live.
The fire erupted Tuesday and quickly grew to 1,500 acres. California 138 is closed from California 2 to the 15.
It’s also stopped a freight train and the crew had to flee. “Cajon Pass acts as a natural wind tunnel, creating a funnel that can increase wind speeds by 20-30 miles per hour”. Already there are reports of smoke reaching Las Vegas as winds went east Tuesday.
Firefighters will patrol for any remaining hotspots for a few more days.
At its height the fire posed a threat to as many as 5,300 residences but ultimately no homes were lost. Officials say he is also suspected in several other fires over the past year in Lake County.
The fire ruined 175 houses, Main Street businesses and other constructions in the working class town of Lower Lake. It was 10 percent contained.
Some 700 firefighters are battling the blaze, according to InciWeb.
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. (AP) – California’s newest huge wildfire advanced on thousands of homes Wednesday, feeding on drought-stricken vegetation and destroying an untold number of structures as it expanded to almost 47 square miles. Hinchcliff says he will be charged in connection with 12 fires and one attempt to start a fire. But they did not have enough evidence to make an arrest until the weekend blaze ripped through Lower Lake. The fire “continues to burn actively with short range spotting and torching observed”, Cal Fire said.
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Roughly 1,600 firefighters were making progress on the blaze as it burned through wilderness.
