The blaze first broke out Thursday around 6:30 p.m. near Baseline Street and Alpin Street in Highland; it quickly grew to 3,832 acres by Friday night and nearly doubled in size to 7,122 acres with no containment by Saturday afternoon.
As of Sunday afternoon, it stood at 17,459 acres, making it the fifth-largest active wildfire in the state.
In a post to X , Newsom stated that he is deploying resources from across the state to assist local fire crews. CAL FIRE is also working with the U.S. Forest Service to protect area communities.
Fire officials described the Line Fire as “very active and spreading in receptive fuels,” adding that extreme weather — including lightning strikes, strong winds and hot weather — as well as hard-to-navigate terrain are making it hard for crews to contain the blaze; however, a CAL FIRE spokesperson told KTLA 5’s Erin Myers Sunday morning that crews did make progress overnight due to higher humidity, a little bit of rain and the deployment of more resources.
“Vegetation is critically dry, and temperatures reached more than 100 degrees Saturday with relative humidity dipping to the mid-teens,” CAL FIRE stated on their Line Fire incident webpage. “There’s a chance for thunderstorms in the area Sunday [but] there is an Excessive Heat Warning across the region that is expected to last through the weekend.”
A total of 36,328 structures are threatened, including residential homes, commercial buildings and “other minor structures,” fire officials said. Three firefighters have been injured fighting the blaze.
“Thunderstorm outflow winds are causing very erratic behavior on the Line Fire,” officials said just before 8 a.m. Sunday. “The fire [started] out under smoky skies on Sunday which will help moderate fire behavior, but as smoke clears through the afternoon, fire activity will once again pick up.”
The hot and dry conditions mixed with thunderstorms could cause new ignitions and influence activity around the fire perimeter, CAL FIRE said.
Evacuation orders are in place for the following areas:
The communities of Running Springs and Arrow Bear Lake
All underdeveloped land east of Highway 330 to Summertrail Place and north of Highland Avenue
From Calle Del Rio to Highway 38 including Greenspot Road North
Areas of Running Springs east of Highway 330 and south of Highway 18
Area east of Orchard Road to CloverHill from Highland Avenue north to the foothills
North of Highland Avenue and East of Palm Avenue to Highway 330
Garnett Street east of Highway 38 and Mille Creek north to the foothills
Evacuation warnings are in place for the following areas:
Cedar Glen, Lake Arrowhead, Crestline, Valley of Enchantment
Green Valley Lake
Angelus Oaks, Seven Oaks, Mountain Home Village
Neighborhoods east of Church Street and north of Highland Avenue
Neighborhoods east of Weaver, north of Greenspot to the Iron Bridge
The following roads have been closed:
Highway 18 northbound from Kuffel Canyon to Running Springs (one lane; only southbound traffic is allowed)
Highway 18 from Running Springs to Highway 38 (Big Bear Dam)
Highway 330 from Highland Avenue to Highway 18 in Running Springs
Garnet Street at Highway 38 in Mentone
“If you are in Running Springs, you are able to get out but you will not be allowed back in,” CAL FIRE said.
Evacuation shelters have been set up at the following locations:
San Bernardino County Fairgrounds Building 6 – 14800 7 th Street, Victorville
Immanuel Baptist Church – 28355 Base Line Street, Highland
An animal evacuation shelter is available at Devore Animal Shelter, located at 19777 Shelter Way in San Bernardino.
The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
On Sunday evening, Bear Valley Unified School District announced all schools within the district will be closed on Monday because of the impacts of this fire.
The district shared in a Facebook post that, while the community is not currently in any direct danger, the ongoing fire has led to road closures and poor air quality.
“San Bernardino County has been declared a state of emergency and we make this decision purely out of an abundance of caution,” wrote the district. “Our top priority is the safety and well-being of our students, staff, and community. We are closely monitoring the situation and will provide updates as necessary.”
Officials with the San Bernardino County Unified School District announced that all of its schools, with the exception of Bonnie Oehl Elementary, which is within the evacuation zone, will be opened for class Monday. More information on SBCUSD’s schedule can be found here .
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0