The evacuations were ordered for the Summit Valley area in San Bernardino County – about 75 miles northeast of downtown Los Angeles.
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Homes on Santa Fe Avenue East to Ranchero Road under mandatory evacuation, says CalFire.
Since it was first reported about noon Sunday, the fire spread quickly in dry brush and timber.
“When a hobby drone is flown into a fire area, incident commanders have no choice but to suspend air operations and ground aircraft until the drone is removed from the area”, the NWCG said in a statement. “Incredibly dry vegetation” has posed challenges in the firefight, Poole said. “That’s been our difficulty”.
There has been no structural damage to homes in the rugged rural area, which has several horse ranches. An army of more than 5,000 firefighters and an air force of tankers and helicopters made progress, however, surrounding 50 percent of the 18-day-old blaze. “These guys – they’re highly trained, they’re highly motivated and they’re doing an incredible job in hard conditions”. Voluntary evacuations were also in place for north Lake Arrowhead, from Brentwood east to Highway 173 – all neighborhoods north of the lake, according to the sheriff’s department. Additional voluntary evacuations included Golf Course Road east to North Bay Road – everything north of Peninsula to Highway 173.
Across the Mojave, officials in southern Nevada issued an air quality advisory because of smoke from the fire more than 200 miles away. The blaze, which has burned for more than two weeks, has killed one person, injured three others and destroyed 57 homes and 11 outbuildings.
The victim, Robert Reagan III, was a bulldozer operator working to control the fire.
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The Pilot Fire grew to 6,298 acres by Monday evening, with just 6 percent containment as the fast-moving blaze triggered evacuations and school closings in communities around the San Bernardino National Forest.
