The Blue Cut fire is one of almost 30 major blazes reported to have scorched at least 530 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 Centre in Boise, Idaho. “I know for the majority of the guys here, the firefighters, the fire service, it’s just a job that we do and we’ll fight this fire to the end”, said Leon.
Advertisement
San Bernardino County fire officials are uncertain how many homes have burned.
A burned out residence stands amid rubble on Highway 138 after the Blue Cut Fire burned through Phelan, Calif., on Thursday, Aug. 18, 2016.
No deaths have been reported, although two firefighters surrounded by flames on Tuesday sustained minor injuries.
Firefighters have had considerable success in corralling the flames after the blaze exploded out of the Cajon Pass area on Tuesday and quickly spread across 58 square miles of mountain and desert lands. An Edison spokesperson said there are more than 300 damaged power poles to replace, miles of wire to restring and a number of transformers to fix.
The National Weather Service says red flag warnings for unsafe fire conditions will remain in effect through Thursday evening.
Crews will be spraying fire-resistant gel on homes that are potentially in danger, just as they did in 2015 during the Lake fire in the Big Bear area.
San Diego fire Capt. Robert Allen said fire engines have been stuck behind vehicles of people who have waited to the last second to leave.
At its height, more than 34,000 homes and about 82,000 residents were under evacuation warnings.
The fire reached Main Street in Lower Lake, a town of about 1,200 about 90 miles north of San Francisco, on Sunday and burned the post office, a winery, a Habitat for Humanity office and several businesses as thick, black smoke loomed over the small downtown strip. “Even if you are brand new, that doesn’t mean you can’t tell me, ‘Hey are we doing this safely?’ We’ve seen too many of our coworkers get hurt in this job”, Sanchez said.
California is in the fifth year of drought, and dry conditions have exacerbated wildfire conditions.
Nancy Kincaid, a spokeswoman with the California Department of Insurance, said insurance companies are required to submit a rate filing that documents the losses they have experienced as well as what they expect to pay out as a result.
Some residents, however, chose to ignore the warnings by authorities and remained in their homes.
Some residents who were evacuated due to a massive wildfire burning near Devore were allowed to return home Friday.
On the state’s central coast, crews are beginning to gain ground on a 7,300-acre fire that has destroyed homes near San Luis Obispo.
“People were pretty much confused”, he said, especially about where to go and how to get there.
Advertisement
Veteran firefighters described the Blue Cut fire as the most intense and erratic that they’ve ever seen in terms of speed, heat and length.
