WRIGHTWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Three major wildfires in Southern California’s mountains east of Los Angeles torched dozens of homes and forced thousands of people to flee their towns, officials said Wednesday.
At least a dozen people, mainly firefighters, were treated for injuries that were mostly heat-related, authorities said. One person from Orange County was burned. No deaths have been reported.
The wildfires have been endangering tens of thousands of homes and other structures across the region after they sprung to life during a triple-digit heat wave over the weekend. Other major fires were burning in Idaho, Oregon and Nevada, where about 20,000 people had to flee a blaze outside Reno.
In the tight-knit community of Wrightwood that sits on the Pacific Crest Trail, authorities implored residents to evacuate the exploding Bridge Fire, which burned more than a dozen homes in the area.
Resident Erin Arias said she was racing up the mountain when she got the sudden order to leave and did, grabbing her passport and dog. On Wednesday, she and her husband doused water on the roof of their still-standing home. Their cat was missing, she said.
“It’s absolutely scary,” Arias said, looking at the burned embers of her neighbor’s home. “We’re really lucky.”
UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain said the fire moved extraordinarily fast across complex terrain, likely giving Wrightwood residents less time to evacuate than usual and surprising even seasoned fire officials. While fires can burn quickly through brush and grass fuels, they usually take longer to travel equivalent distances through steep mountains and heavy timber, Swain said.
The Bridge Fire “had to go up mountain sides, burn down slope, jump across valleys, burn across new ridges, and then make it down slope again at least two other times in effectively one burning period,” he said.
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. The White House said President Joe Biden was monitoring the wildfires in the West and urged residents to heed state and local evacuation orders.
Cooler temperatures were expected to potentially start tempering fire activity as the week progresses.
The full extent of the damage was not immediately known as firefighters battled multiple fires simultaneously. The three blazes include:
— The Airport Fire in Orange County that burned nearly 35 square miles (91 square kilometers), leaving in its wake charred cars and rubble and pushing into neighboring Riverside County. The fire was 0% contained Wednesday and was reportedly sparked by heavy equipment operating in the area. Orange County Fire Capt. Steve Concialdi said eight firefighters were injured, mostly heat-related. One resident suffered smoke inhalation and another burns, he said. Several homes burned in El Cariso Village.
— The Line Fire in the San Bernardino National Forest that charred 54 square miles (140 square kilometers) and injured three firefighters. Authorities said it was caused by arson in Highland. A suspect was arrested Tuesday.
— The Bridge Fire east of Los Angeles that grew tenfold in a day, burning 75 square miles (194 square kilometers) torching at least 33 homes and six cabins and forcing the evacuation of 10,000 people. The cause of the fire was not immediately known. It was zero percent contained Wednesday morning.
With so many fires raging at once, crews were at their limits, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said.
“As a region, we’re currently at drawdown for fire personnel and resources,” he said, adding that authorities have requested assistance from Northern California and nearby states.
Gov. Gavin Newsom sent National Guard troops in to help with evacuations.
In El Cariso Village, a community of 250 along Highway 74 in Riverside County, an Associated Press photographer saw at least 10 homes and several cars engulfed in flames. One had only its brick chimney left.
In San Bernardino County, some 65,600 homes and buildings were under threat by the Line Fire, and residents along the southern edge of Big Bear Lake were told to leave late Tuesday.
The Line Fire blanketed the area with a thick cloud of dark smoke, which provided shade for firefighters trying to get ahead of winds expected later Wednesday, said Fabian Herrera, a spokesperson for the Line Fire, which was 14% contained.
A man from the town of Norco suspected of starting the Line Fire on Sept. 5 was arrested and charged with arson, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said. Officials did not specify what was used to start the fire.
Investigators collected evidence from the delivery driver’s vehicle and home that suggests he could have been involved in starting other fires, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said Wednesday.
On the Nevada border with California near Reno, the Davis Fire destroyed one home and a dozen structures and charred more than 8 square miles (21 square km) of timber and brush along the Sierra Nevada’s eastern front. Truckee Meadows Fire District Chief Charles Moore said he ordered off-duty firefighters back to work Wednesday as the National Weather Service forecast wind gusts up to 40 mph (64 kph), creating “a particularly dangerous situation.”
Jeremy Human, a U.S. Forest Service operations chief, said air tankers were trying to make some retardant drops before gusty winds likely forced the grounding of aircraft. Schools were closed in Washoe County, and an evacuation center was moved farther from the flames.
“We’re doing our best to be prepared for the anticipated winds, the very dramatic weather day … and potential for either new starts or rapid rates of spread should something escape containment lines,” Human said.
Elsewhere, a Colorado man was charged with arson after an investigation into a wildfire this summer that destroyed 29 homes and caused more than $30 million in property damage near Loveland, Colorado, in late July and early August.
Thayer reported from El Cariso Village, Taxin from Santa Ana, California, and Rodriguez from San Francisco. Associated Press writers Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, Amy Hanson in Helena, Montana and Thomas Peipert in Denver contributed.
This story corrects the name of the town along Highway 74; it is El Cariso Village, not El Cariso.
