Southern California wildfire is burning so hot it created its own thunderstorm amid mass evacuations

Nearly a week of plus 100-degree temperatures have caused several serious wildfires to break out all over Southern California , with one even burning so hot it created its own thunderstorm-like weather systems.

With temperatures set to cool off in the coming week, firefighters are hoping to gain the upper hand in fighting these blazes. The Line Fire , which started in Highland, California, has prompted 6,000 people to evacuate their homes in San Bernardino County and is threatening over 30,000 structures.

The fire is currently burning along the edge of the San Bernardino National Forest, which sits about 60 miles east of Los Angeles. Triple-digit temperatures and steep terrain have made battling this fire especially challenging and the clouds the blaze is creating are spawning high winds and lightning strikes making it hard to control.

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“We’re dealing with triple-digit temperatures and hard-to-reach steep areas where there has not been fire in decades, or in recorded history, so all that vegetation has led to significant fuel loads,” Cal Fire spokesperson Rick Carhart said.

Fire officials have said that three firefighters have been injured since the fire started on Thursday. The heat wave blanketing most of Southern California is expected to end on Tuesday bringing much-needed relief to the area, and making it somewhat easier for firefighters to get these fires under control.

As of Monday evening, the fire was 5% contained and has burned an estimated 37 square miles of brush and vegetation. The area remains blanketed in a thick cloud of dark smoke.

The Line Fire is one of many across the entire western portion of the country as fires are burning in Oregon, Idaho, and Nevada, where 20,000 people were evacuated near Reno. Three major fires are currently burning in California with one north of San Francisco, the aforementioned Line Fire, and one that broke out Monday afternoon in Orange County just east of Los Angeles.

Residents of the mountain community of Runnings Springs were forced to flee their homes Saturday as the Line Fire made its way up the mountain. Resident Steven Michael King told the Associated Press on Sunday that he had planned to stay and help his neighbors fight the fire. The blaze became too intense and he was forced to evacuate the area.

California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for San Bernardino County allowing additional resources to be dispatched to the area. Much of the mountainous communities of Southern California, ski resorts host winter activities in cooler months, are under evacuation while officials work to contain this fire.

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Meanwhile, in nearby Orange County firefighters are battling the airport fire that broke out early Monday afternoon. That fire spread to about three square miles very quickly as firefighters used bulldozers, helicopters and airplanes to try and control the blaze.

Another fire also broke out in Los Angeles County in the Angeles National Forest north of the City of Glendora. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department ordered campers in the area, as well as a nearby community to evacuate.

The uncontained Davis Fire is burning about 20 miles outside Reno and has grown to about 10 square miles after breaking out Sunday afternoon. Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo declared a state of emergency for Washoe County and about 20,000 people were forced to evacuate.