San Bernardino County fire officials are uncertain how many homes have burned.
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Containment is low- the gusty winds and heat making it hard for firefighters to keep the fast-moving flames from destroying more land.
An evacuation order has been issued for over 80,000 people due to a massive wildfire that has ripped through rural communities outside Los Angeles, California.
Cal Fire said the blaze has now grown to 35,969 acres and is 22 percent contained.
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.
In fact, a lot of people chose to stay.
The Blue Cut fire is one of almost 30 major blazes reported to have scorched some hundreds of square miles in eight Western states this week, in the midst of a wildfire season stoked by prolonged drought and unusually hot weather, according to the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho. The size of the fire is roughly 40 square miles.
The 15 Freeway, which was completely shut down Wednesday morning, was reopened to traffic in both directions on Thursday morning, Caltrans said.
An estimated 34,500 homes and almost 83,000 people have been placed under evacuation orders, and numerous public schools have been closed as a precaution, fire officials said.
Their relief, however, was tempered with anger at a man who authorities believe set the blaze that wiped out several blocks of a small town over the weekend along with 16 smaller fires dating back to last summer. Still of concern is the mountain town of Wrightwood, home to Mountain High ski resort and old-growth brush and trees that haven’t burned in 70 years.
Authorities say three people have been arrested on suspicion of grand theft auto and looting for attempting to steal a flatbed truck and other items from a house that was evacuated because of a Southern California wildfire. Well, they don’t. Usually, their strategy is to avoid firenadoes once they appear, and turn their efforts to less active, more stable areas instead.
More than 1,700 firefighters are battling the blaze that started Saturday and spread to the community’s downtown area and many residential neighborhoods.
Where the fire has burned, it hasn’t left much behind that could burn later, good for future fire management, he said.
“By the time we drove up to it, it was already freight-training up the drainage”, Minor said. “With the speed of the fire there was no time to do anything other than get in the engine and go”, Minor said.
The northbound side reopened late Wednesday.
San Bernardino County fire officials are uncertain how many homes have burned.
San Bernardino County officials on Thursday activated their mass care and shelter plan, spokesman David Wert said in a news release.
Wrightwood remains evacuated because it’s to the north of the blaze, which has shown “extreme fire behavior”, Pitassi said.
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Firefighters have gained more ground as they work to surround the huge wildfire east of Los Angeles.
