The
massive wind-driven and out-of-control Blue Cut Fire in Southern
California's Cajon Pass had devoured 30,000 acres and multiple buildings
by Wednesday morning, forcing more than 80,000 people to evacuate their
homes and defying firefighters' efforts to stop the spread.
Interstate 15, the main artery in and out of the High Desert, remains closed Wednesday morning.
I-15 was shut down shortly after the fire was first spotted around
10:30 a.m. Tuesday west of the 15 Freeway near Kenwood Avenue. It along
with Highway 138 from the 2 Freeway to the 18 Freeway are still shut
down Wednesday morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.
The Blue
Cut Fire burns out of control Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016, off of Highway
138. (Photo by Will Lester/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin)
Sheriff's
officials estimate they evacuated 34,500 homes — which equates to about
82,600 residents, according to the U.S. Forest Service — as the Blue
Cut fire raced north.
By this morning, no portion of its perimeter had containment lines
to keep the flames from spreading. Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of
emergency, and 700 firefighting personnel were battling the fire.
The devastating fire, which destroyed several structures and homes
including the historic Summit Inn at the top of the Cajon Pass --
quickly exploded, consuming 30,000 acres, or nearly 47 square miles, in
less than 24 hours.
"It's bewildering," said Char Miller, a professor at Pomona
College who researches wildfires. "The fire is moving very, very
quickly, and I think that's one of the examples of the nature of fire
this summer. This is in big measure because we're in a deep drought. The
drought, the weather and the temperature have come together in a way
that's, frankly, pretty scary."
Red flag conditions remain in effect for San Bernardino County until 9 p.m. Thursday, according to the National Weather Service.Images
from the fire lines showed homes in flames. A house on a rural road off
Highway 138 west of Mormon Rocks appeared to have burned to the ground.
The McDonalds restaurant at I-15 and 138 caught fire, a U.S. Forest
Service spokesman confirmed.
Six firefighters defending homes
Tuesday and assisting with evacuations in the Swarthout Canyon area west
of the Cajon Pass were trapped by the fire, sheltering in a nearby
structure. The fire burned an engine.
Two of those firefighters
were taken to the hospital, but both were released and returned to the
fire line, according to San Bernardino County Fire Department
spokeswoman Tracey Martinez.
At the Rhinestone Rose Bed &
Breakfast in Wrightwood, Patrick Diamond and Lorretta Thompson were
closing up the place ahead of the evacuation order.
"It's real
close," Diamond said, eyeing the smoke. "We've got everything in the
car. Luckily, we didn't have guests. A lot of them come in from LA and
they wouldn't know where to go."
So he went down his checklist, shutting off the gas, closing windows and laying out hoses and ladders for firefighters to use.
"We just tried to make their jobs easier," Diamond said of the fire crews posted nearby. "And make them safe, too."
BNSF Railway Co. has shut down train operations through the Cajon Pass in both directions, said spokeswoman Lena Kent.
"We do have a train that is close to the fire that is in the process of safely being moved away from the area," she said.
The Associated Press reported that a freight train was stopped by the fire and its crew had to flee.
The
Blue Cut fire was reported just after 10:30 a.m Tuesday near Kenwood
Avenue in the Cajon Pass, according to the U.S. Forest Service. The
cause is not known.
Weather conditions in the area were ideal for
fire: temperatures close to 100, humidity at 5 percent or less for most
of the afternoon and wind gusts up to 20 mph.
Within eight hours,
it had grown larger than the nearby Pilot fire, which started Aug. 7 and
topped 8,000 acres five days later. Firefighters began the "mop-up
stage" on that fire Sunday and it was declared 100 percent contained
Tuesday morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment