Southern California fire explodes in size, forcing mountain town to evacuate
A quick-moving blaze in Southern California exploded in size this weekend, consuming more than 17,000 acres as of early Sunday and forcing evacuations amid a searing heat wave in the region.
The Line fire in San Bernardino County, which ignited late last week, quadrupled in size as the weekend began, scorching thousands of acres on Saturday alone. The flames raced up steep terrain, chewing through thick vegetation as they approached Running Springs, a mountain community of about 5,000 people that lies between the populated resort areas of Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear Lake. The community has been ordered to evacuate, while Lake Arrowhead and areas to its west are under an evacuation warning.
Evacuation orders are also in effect on the south side of the fire, where structures could be affected in the city of Highland, which lies at the base of the mountains in San Bernardino County.
Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency in the county to secure federal assistance to respond to the fire, which in all threatens more than 35,000 homes, as well as critical infrastructure.
The fire has “room to grow now in essentially three directions and there are population centers and pretty dense, dry vegetation in between those population centers,” UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said in a Saturday briefing.
The fire initially sparked Thursday and had burned about 3,800 acres by Saturday morning, before ballooning thousands of acres through the afternoon. The blaze was so intense that it also formed a towering pyrocumulonimbus cloud – a fire-generated thunderstorm – that was sending out its own lightning, erratic winds and brief rain.
The fire is spreading amid a scorching heat wave in Southern California that has rivaled one seen in September 2020, with temperatures approaching or tying all-time records, exceeding 105 and even 110 degrees in many locations.
Vegetation in the area is “critically dry,” according to the San Bernardino National Forest.
“The San Bernardino front country … has everything you need for a fire to get big,” retired Cal Fire assistant chief Tim Chavez said in an interview posted online by the Lookout, a wildfire reporting website.
Along with this week’s heat, Chavez said this includes heavy fuels that in most places haven’t burned since the 1990s – and “steep, steep terrain leading up to the mountain communities.”
“Fuels that are stressed like that – they tend to surprise you,” he said.
Stormy skies cloud parts of the region, as monsoon thunderstorms in the area on Saturday also helped to intensify the fire. Officials are expecting Sunday to be another day of fire growth and erratic fire behavior.
“Unfortunately, the weather conditions over the next few days are not going to be favorable,” Swain said in the Saturday briefing. “It’s going to be very hot and relatively unstable over the next few days with some increasing winds next week.”
Cooler weather is expected to move in by midweek, but that transition could come with strong winds.
Meanwhile, the wind-driven Davis fire south of Reno, Nevada, has burned at least 1,500 acres and destroyed at least six structures, forcing quick evacuations.
Strong, dry winds of 30 to 40 mph are expected Sunday as a weather disturbance passes through the region.
The conditions are a major fire weather risk for the Sierra Front, according to the National Weather Service at Reno, and a red flag warning is in effect for western Nevada into eastern California from 11 a.m. until 8 p.m. today, given the potential for fast-spreading blazes.
The Western fire season has roared back to life this past week as hot, dry conditions have returned. There are 70 large fires burning out West, including 21 in Oregon, 19 in Idaho and 13 in Montana.
A mix of wind and dry thunderstorms forecast for the coming days could exacerbate the situation and further strain firefighting resources.