CA Wildfires: Massive Blaze Scorches 90K Acres, Triggers Fire Tornado

CALIFORNIA — California's largest wildfire this year continued to rage across the Mojave Desert Wednesday, permanently altering one of the most unique habitats on the planet, charring more than 90,000 acres of iconic Joshua Trees and sending 'fire tornadoes' shooting into the sky.

The blaze, which spans two states, is a dramatic sign that California's wildfire season has arrived. Fueled by an abundance of grasses and shrubs dried out after an unusually wet spring, the blaze has been burning amid triple-digit temperatures since Friday.

With another heat wave expected to bake wide swathes of the state in extreme temperatures this weekend and Santa Ana and Diablo Wind conditions expected to arrive in the coming months, a series of brush fires burning up and down the state have prompted aggressive firefighting campaigns.

Cal Fire crews have deployed to 11 wildfires in the last 8 days, including three that ignited Tuesday in the Central Valley and the massive York Fire that started Friday in eastern San Bernardino County.

Firefighters were making headway against fires burning in Riverside and Kern counties ahead of another hot and dry weekend, but rushed to the scene of another that ignited Wednesday afternoon near Cabazon. The Almond Fire quickly charred 95 acres and had 0 percent containment at 1:30 p.m., with some locations under evacuation orders.

The York Fire, which ignited in the Mojave National Preserve, is already responsible for the vast majority of acres burned this fire season, scorching more than 82,000 acres in the Golden State by Wednesday morning and another 8,300 across the state line in Nevada's Clark County.

Hundreds of firefighters have battled dangerous heat and high winds, at times leading to turbulent "fire whirls" — swirling vortexes of flames that can reach hundreds of feet into the air. Smoke from the fire poured over Las Vegas over the weekend, with low visibility delaying flights for up to two hours.

In an update shared Wednesday, officials said containment had improved to 30 percent — up from 23 percent — thanks to moderate fire behavior and a short-lived burst of monsoonal moisture Tuesday afternoon. Firefighters were hopeful a little more moisture could materialize Wednesday before drier, hotter weather returns late in the week.

"Firefighters today will continue to build containment lines and reinforce existing containment lines while continuing to mop up and look for hot spots along the fire's edge," officials wrote Wednesday. "Despite recent rainfall, firefighters are remaining vigilant and remain prepared as a drying trend is on the horizon. While the rain has been beneficial it has not eliminated the threat of fire weather caused by dry fuels."

As the Associated Press noted Wednesday, crews were keeping a close eye on the storm track, as it also carries the risk of erratic wind shifts and strong gusts that could blow the flames back at them.

The more than 400 firefighters working the blaze are also navigating a delicate ecosystem, carving out fire lines without heavy machinery to reduce impacts across an area that is home to hundreds of rare vegetation.

"You bring a bunch of bulldozers in there, you may or may not stop the fire, but you'll put a scar on the landscape that'll last generations," said Tim Chavez, an assistant chief at the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Investigators know the fire started on private land in the remote Caruthers Canyon area, but are still looking into the ignition source. As of Wednesday, no evacuation orders had been issued.

Elsewhere in California, fire crews reported more progress on the Bonny Fire, which has burned more than 2,300 acres since igniting Thursday in southern Riverside County. Some evacuation orders for those nearest the fire remained in place Wednesday morning, but a few warnings were were lifted Tuesday night.

That blaze drew nearly 1,900 fire personnel to the scene, including 215 engines, 18 bulldozers and five helicopters.

"Yesterday our firefighters made great progress on the south end of the fire, with our biggest concern, and towards the head of the fire to the east to ensure that we secure and protect the community of Anza," said Robby Peterson, a deputy operations chief at the fire, during a briefing Wednesday. "Our firefighters yesterday were improving the line that we have put in and ensuring that no fire escapes our current perimeter."

Here is the evacuation area for the Bonny Fire (as of 10:30 a.m. Wednesday)

Fire crews Wednesday were also contending with the East Fire, which has burned more than 1,500 acres since igniting Tuesday afternoon northeast of Bakersfield. The Haberkern and Beale fires, also burning in Kern County, were kept to a few dozen acres with high containment by late Wednesday morning.

With fewer than 100,000 acres burned so this year, California is seeing one of its slowest starts to a fire season in decades. According to The Mercury News, experts credit some of that good fortune to the historic winter rainfall, noting the state's mildest fire years in recent decades all have followed very wet winters.

That does not mean the state is in the clear as the bountiful vegetation nourished by the rain continues to dry out in the weeks to come.

"We aren't out of the woods," Craig Clements, a fire weather researcher, told The Mercury News. "When we get to the fall, fuel moisture will be low again. If rains start late, or if we have a bunch of wind events, we could still have a big fire.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.