A state of emergency was declared in San Bernardino County, east of Los Angeles after more than 15,000 acres of land were engulfed threatening tens of thousands of homes.
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Officials said about 700 firefighters were battling to control the blaze in an area called the Cajon Pass, the latest in a series of wildfires that have blackened almost 121,400 hectares of the drought-parched US West.
Containment of the blaze was up to 35 percent Tuesday night, the newspaper said.
The wall of flames first peeked over the ridge near Bonnie Hutter’s trailer home late Tuesday morning.
Firefighters battle the Bluecut Fire along Swarthout Canyon Road in the Cajon Pass, north of San Bernardino, Calif., Tuesday Aug. 16, 2016.
Firefighters from the San Bernardino National Forest are assisting with the blaze and water drops are being made. Within an hour the fire had expanded to encompass a total of 1,000 acres.
The fire is shooting flames 80 to 100 feet high. “It went from “have you heard there’s a fire?’ to ‘mandatory evacuation” before you could take it all in”.
The raging fires spread across California is part of the annual fire season brought by extreme hot weather combined with dry bushes in the forest that has become worse over the years because of climate change.
Gov. Jerry Brown quickly declared a state of emergency in the fire area, freeing up special resources and funds for the firefight and recovery.
The San Bernardino County Fire Department Battalion Chief Marc Peebles stated that within a 9 hour time frame this fire had already grown and ravished a total of 9,000 acres. All motorists were urged to avoid the Cajon Pass area.
The Associated Press reported that a freight train was stopped by the fire and its crew had to flee. The blaze was burning along Interstate 15.
Along the coast, Highway 1 reopened after a daylong closure for removal of fire-weakened trees north of Big Sur.
The fire, which was started by an illegal campfire on July 22, has burned more than 118 square miles, destroyed 57 homes and led to the death of a man in a bulldozer accident. It was 60 percent contained and threatens more than 400 structures.
Besides battling flames in the southern mountains, firefighters are also continuing to fight the Clayton fire in northern California and the Chimney fire in San Luis Obispo County.
In central California, a day-old wildfire burned 20 structures and threatened 150 homes.
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According to Lake County’s District Attorney, Pashilk’s criminal history stems back to 2000.
