For the first time in several generations, wildfire had stalked Lower Lake a year ago during a devastating period from the end of July through September. September and October are usually hot, dry and windy, providing the kindling needed to fan such flames.
Advertisement
This is Highway 138 near Cajon Pass just north of San Bernardino. More than 34,000 homes and 82,000 people are under evacuation warnings.
“It’s frightful”, said Shad Boyd, 49, a retired transportation worker who lives in the desert city of Adelanto a few miles downwind from the fire. “People are anxious and stressed”.
Mallard added: “I hope he’s innocent”.
Think about it this way: What if you were told your house, right now, was in danger of being destroyed. And to top it all off, you can see the smoke rising.
“Breathing smoke again, just like previous year”, Shannon Anderson, a partner in the ranch, said as she panted into the telephone. Cats and dogs are being kept at a different facility. All that remained of many homes was burnt patio furniture and appliances, and burned out cars in the driveways.
Evacuated areas included the ski-resort town of Wrightwood, where some 4,500 people live; canyon communities containing clusters of large, scattered ranches; and sprawling high desert communities on the opposite side of the ridges.
“I’m just glad it’s still standing”. She also was relieved to find her home intact, but she was still visibly emotional.
“We would hate for the fire to overrun your neighborhood and you be stuck inside and not have a way out”, San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said. “I never want this to happen again”.
But even longtime observers were surprised by the staggering speed of the Southern California fire.
Meanwhile, the Soberanes fire that has been burning in Monterey County since July 22 has destroyed 77,000 acres and is only 60 percent contained. “We had one route and we were able to go through that area”, he said.
“If the smoke is heavy and thick and black, you know it’s burning something”, he said.
Surveillance footage put Pashilk’s vehicle near each of the fires when they started, the document stated.
The Mountain View team consisted of six personnel, said Brown: one emergency medical technician, two firefighters, an engineer, a captain and a chief officer serving as the team’s strike leader.
Jacobs said rail deliveries to Las Vegas and points north of the city have been rerouted to a rail line west of Cajon Pass that is closer to the coast and eventually rejoins the main line to Las Vegas via Barstow, California.
The fire “has burned several homes and threatens thousands of structures” and “has caused injuries to firefighters and destroyed firefighting equipment”, according to the state of emergency statement issued by the state’s governor’s office. That 8,000-plus-acre fire burned for about a week and was fully contained on Tuesday, when the Blue Cut Fire ignited.
Containment was at zero percent early Tuesday afternoon, fire officials said, and the blaze is being aided by mild wind gusts and triple-digit temperatures.
As the Blue Cut Fire continues to rage in Southern California, Arizona fire departments and fire districts are sending people and equipment to help.
Advertisement
As that fire surged, a major blaze north of San Francisco was fading, and about 4,000 people in the town of Clearlake were allowed to return home.
