Trapped By Flames; Bridge Fire Tears Through Mountain Communities

SAN GABRIEL CANYON, CA — With the Bridge Fire exploding in multiple directions Wednesday, residents and firefighters faced a tense night of heavy winds and evacuations.

At least 39 homes have been destroyed as the explosive Bridge Fire grew to 50,258 acres Wednesday, threatening communities in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties.

Authorities announced a dramatic ongoing rescue effort Wednesday to save three people trapped by the flames in the Mount Baldy area, including an off-duty Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department sergeant, said Sheriff Robert Luna. Rescue crews attempted an air evacuation, but teams hoping to hoist them to safety were unable to immediately reach the trio due to the heavy smoke in the area.

Luna insisted all three were safe and in good condition, and were "just waiting for the right circumstances to be rescued."

Authorities began to get a glimpse of the fire's toll Wednesday morning after the blaze seemingly exploded to the north and east, tearing through Mt. Baldy and Wrightwood and triggering mandatory evacuations in Palmdale and evacuation warnings in Upland, Claremont, and San Antonio Heights.

According to the Los Angeles County Fire Department, the blaze has destroyed at least 20 homes in Mt. Baldy, 13 in Wrightwood and six in the wilderness area. Smoke and ash from the massive blaze blanketed much of Southern California.

Nearly 500 firefighters are battling the blaze and remain strapped for resources as the massive Airport Fire rages in Orange County and the Line Fire threatens San Bernardino Mountain communities.

As the sun set on the inferno Wednesday, residents and firefighters faced a great deal of uncertainty.

"As the fire continues to head into receptive fuels with little to no fire history, it could get established into drainages and have slope alignment, leading to the potential for large energy release that could create plume-driven fire behavior and column collapses, which may send spot fires out ahead of the fire’s direction.," CalFire warned Wednesday evening.

With no containment achieved three days into the fire, thousands of residents remain on edge.
In the tight-knit community of Wrightwood, authorities implored residents to evacuate as the Bridge Fire raced their way ultimately burning 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.”

Much of the destruction came alarmingly soon after evacuation orders were issued Tuesday evening.

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.

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.

"Last night, the Bridge Fire continued to exhibit extreme fire behavior as it increased over 13,000 acres mainly on the north and east flanks," according to an early morning Wednesday update from fire commanders. "The top priority for firefighters remained in structure protection and defense within the communities of Wrightwood, Pinon Hills and Mount Baldy.

"Numerous structures in the Wrightwood area have been impacted by the fire, with damage to power infrastructure reported. Once it is safe for damage assessment teams to evaluate, confirmed numbers will be released. Mountain High West and East Ski Resort were also affected by fire activity."

Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said no significant injuries or deaths were reported.

He noted that despite slowly cooling temperatures, "we still have potential for large fire growth today."

"It's very steep terrain, inaccessible, so that's making it a challenge for our firefighters," he said.

On Tuesday night, the communities of Wrightwood, Pinoion Hills and Mt. Baldy were under evacuation orders. Several live camera feeds from Mountain High resort showed the flames tearing through ski resort within moments Tuesday night. Other videos showed flames destroying buildings in the Mt Baldy area.

Although the flames advanced on Mountain High Ski Resort, officials at the popular destination posted on social media Wednesday that "all the main lifts and buildings survived with little to no damage."

Much of the destruction came alarmingly soon after evacuation orders were issued Tuesday evening.

"There has been substantial wildfire growth throughout the day with movement to the north and the east with impacts to the communities of Mt. Baldy and Wrightwood," Marrone said at a press conference Tuesday night. "Our top priority right now is to protect residents, communities, critical communications, and power-grid infrastructure."

"As a region, our fire agencies are at drawdown with three major fires burning in Southern California: the Bridge Fire here in Los Angeles County, the Line Fire in San Bernadino County, and the Airport Fire in Orange County," said Marrone. "These three simultaneous fires are stressing resources for the fire department, so we are asking for resources from Northern California and adjoining states."

With the unpredictable nature of this fire, authorities urged residents to heed all evacuation warnings.

"We urge everyone who's under an evacuation order to leave now, Marrone said. "If you are under an evacuation warning, you should prepare to leave at a moment's notice."

Alex Luna, a 20-year-old missionary, saw the sky turn from a cherry red to black in about 90 minutes as an explosive wildfire raced toward Wrightwood, and authorities implored residents to leave their belongings behind and get out of town.

“It was very, I would say, hellish-like,” Luna said Tuesday night. “It was very just dark. Not a good place to be at that moment. ... Ash was falling from the sky like if it was snowing.”

Luna was among those who heeded the evacuation order that was issued for the community of about 4,500 in the San Gabriel Mountains east of Los Angeles.

Gov. Gavin Newsom sent National Guard troops in to help with evacuations. Police and troops have gone door-to-door, in evacuation zones and gaurded against potential looters.

On Wednesday afternoon, a deputy patrolling an evacuation area in San Antonio Heights encountered two people who had fentanyl and wild opossums in a vehicle, according to authorities. Police determined they were in the evacuated area to loot, according to the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department.

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The weather has not cooperated with firefighting efforts. Humidity remains low and temperatures have reached 110 degrees in the valleys and lower mountains. A red flag warning remained in effect until Thursday, creating the potential for walls of wind-driven flames.

The Bridge Fire was first reported around 3 p.m. Sunday near the area of East Fork and Glendora Mountain roads, according to the Angeles National Forest.

Closures and Evacuations: 9:30 p.m. Wednesday

Road Closures

• SR-138 from Lone Pine Canyon Road to Beekley Road
• SR-2 closed from Big Pines to SR-138.
• San Gabriel Canyon and East Fork of the San Gabriel River
• Highway 39
• East Fork Road
• Glendora Ridge Road
• Glendora Mountain Road
• Mt. Baldy Road at Shinn Road intersection

Evacuation Shelters

Evacuation Shelters:

• Pomona Fairplex 601 W McKinley Ave, Pomona, CA 91768 Entrance via Gate 3 at the corner of McKinley and White. Shelter opens at 9:00 PM on September 10th.
• San Bernardino County Fairgrounds (Building 6) 14800 7th St, Victorville, CA 92395
• Jessie Turner Community Center 15556 Summit Ave, Fontana, CA 92336
• Hacienda Heights Community Center 1234 Valencia Ave, Hacienda Heights, CA 91745

Small Animal Shelters:

• Lancaster Animal Care Center 5210 W Ave I, Lancaster, CA 93536
• Palmdale Animal Care Center 38550 Sierra Hwy, Lancaster, CA 93534

Large Animal Shelters:

• Antelope Valley Fairgrounds 2551 W Avenue H, Lancaster, CA 93536
• Devore Animal Shelter (accepting both small and large animals) 19777 Shelter Way, San Bernardino, CA 92407

City News Service and the Associated Press contributed to this report.