Homes, vehicles and stables burned as three major wildfires in Southern California grew dramatically and became more aggressive but firefighters were hoping to get some relief Wednesday with cooler weather. More than a dozen people, mostly firefighters, were injured, officials said.
In Orange County, the Airport Fire charred cars and left a wake of rubble and ash while flames pushed east and over mountains into neighboring Riverside County. Eight firefighters and two residents have been injured in the blaze, which burned nearly 35 square miles (91 square kilometers) by early Wednesday, said Orange County Fire Capt. Sean Doran. He said cooler overnight temperatures provided some respite after a heat wave plagued the region for days.
In El Cariso, a Riverside County community of 250 people, an Associated Press photographer saw at least 10 homes and several cars engulfed in flames.
The fire reached the community along Highway 74 Tuesday afternoon when some residents scrambled to evacuate on the road clogged with fire trucks and firefighters, and the sky turned dark and smokey and began raining ash.
In the mountain community of Wrightwood, scorched trees burned bright orange behind homes as authorities implored residents to evacuate ahead of the exploding Bridge Fire. The fire east of Los Angeles grew tenfold in a day, burning 75 square miles (194 square kilometers) by early Wednesday to become the largest of three major wildfires endangering tens of thousands of homes and other structures across the region.
“It was very, I would say, hellish-like,” Alex Luna, a 20-year-old missionary who heeded calls to evacuate the community of 4,500 in San Bernardino County, said late Tuesday. “Ash was falling from the sky like if it was snowing.”
The fires sprung to life during a triple-digit heat wave that finally broke Wednesday. Other major fires were burning across the West, including in Idaho, Oregon and Nevada, where about 20,000 people had to flee a blaze outside Reno.
In Northern California, a fire that started Sunday burned at least 30 homes and commercial buildings and destroyed at least 40 vehicles in Clearlake City, 110 miles (117 kilometers) north of San Francisco.
California is only now heading into the teeth of the wildfire season but already has seen nearly three times as much acreage burn than during all of 2023.
Evacuation orders were expanded Tuesday night as the fires grew and included parts of the popular ski town Big Bear. Some 65,600 homes and buildings were under threat by the Line Fire, including those under mandatory evacuations and those under evacuation warnings, nearly double the number from the previous day. Three firefighters were injured in connection with the blaze, authorities said.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department announced Tuesday that a Norco man suspected of starting the Line Fire on Sept. 5 in Highland had been arrested and charged with arson. He was held in lieu of $80,000 bail.
Residents along the southern edge of Big Bear Lake were told to leave the area, which is a popular destination for anglers, bikers and hikers. As of late Tuesday, the blaze had charred more than 54 square miles (140 square kilometers) of grass and brush with 14% containment, according to CalFire. It blanketed the area with a thick cloud of dark smoke.
The fire impacted key radio towers, including communication channels for those responding to the fire. The cooler weather could temper fire activity toward the end of the week, CalFire said in an update. Public safety power shutoffs were anticipated in parts of the Big Bear and Bear Valley areas and acrid air and safety concerns prompted several area districts to close schools through the end of the week.
In Orange County, the Airport Fire also burned some communications towers on top of a peak, though so far officials said they did not have reports of the damage disrupting police or fire communication signals in the area. The fire has slowed in some hillside areas affected by previous wildfires and sped up in others, zipping across newly-grown grasses, Doran said. He said firefighters were focusing on the eastern side of the blaze in Riverside County.
“That is where the fire has been pushing,” Doran said.
