Fire officials worried Line Fire could threaten Big Bear community

The Line Fire is continuing to burn in the San Bernardino mountains and authorities are worried that the flames could threaten the Big Bear community.

As of Tuesday morning, the fire has burned 26,426 acres and is five percent contained, according to Cal Fire .

Capt. Curtis Rhodes with Cal Fire told KNX News’ Jon Baid that the most active portion of the fire will be on the north end.

“We did see overnight some active fire behavior on the northeast side of the fire,” he said. “We still have quite a bit of fuels in between the head of the fire and Big Bear. But the most active fire as of last night was on the north end, bumping the freeway.”

Rick Carhart, spokesperson for Cal Fire, told KNX News’ Jon Baird that officials are expecting some fire growth and that it’s tough to fight it because the areas are rugged leading up to Big Bear.

“They need to get people on the ground. There's not going to be an opportunity to get a fire engine in there to drive up to the fire and take a hose off of your engine and spray water on it,” he said. “There's no opportunity to do that because there aren't roads and it's too steep.”

In the mean time, crews have been sent to the Big Bear area to protect homes.

Carhart added that the good news is that fire officials have not lost any houses to the fire at this time.

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According to Cal Fire , 9,200 structures are under evacuation orders while 56, 400 structures are under evacuation warnings. Some residents, however, told Baird they’re holding out and staying in their homes for the time being.

“It's just the wind. It feels like if the wind keeps picking up like this, it could spread,” one resident said. “But I'm just praying it doesn’t.”

Capt. Rhodes said more than 2,000 personnel have been assigned to the fire and that members of the National Guard will be in the Running Springs and Arrowbear areas helping law enforcement in dealing with some of the issues surrounding evacuations.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

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