2 Arrested In Line Fire Evacuation Area: Police

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, CA — Two men are charged after they were found in an area of San Bernardino County that was under an evacuation order due to the Line Fire, according to authorities.

Rialto police assisting in the fire response tried to stop an off-highway vehicle around 2 a.m. Wednesday on State Highway 18 in Running Springs, police said, adding the vehicle was abandoned by its occupants — Robert Jones and Jose Valdez-Roque — shortly afterward.

Officials made contact with the men near Deep Creek Drive and State Highway 18, and the pair were arrested and booked into jail on charges of unauthorized entry to a closed emergency area, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. Their quad was towed, police said.

Evacuation orders and warnings remained in place Wednesday evening for nearly 100,000 residents as the massive Line Fire tore through the San Bernardino Mountains, authorities said. According to Cal Fire, the flames had burned 36,481 acres by Wednesday evening, and containment held steady at 18 percent.