Firefighters Gain Ground On The Massive Bridge Fire

SAN GABRIEL CANYON, CA — For the first time since it began Sunday, firefighters recorded a measure of containment for the massive Bridge Fire burning in the San Gabriel Mountains.

As of Friday afternoon, crews logged 3 percent containment on the blaze, which had grown to 52,487acres. Though the fire's growth had slowed down considerably since Wednesday, thousands of communities remain in danger from the blaze and evacuation orders remained in place headed into the weekend.

Currently, the Bridge Fire, which erupted in the San Gabriel Canyon above Glendora Sunday, is continuing to burn deeper into San Bernardino County.

The mild temperatures and relative humidity that helped firefights make progress on the fire overnight are expected to continue into the weekend, according to the National Weather Service.

The Bridge Fire is the largest of the three wildfires raging in Southern California, and has burned 81 square miles torched at least 33 homes and six cabins and forced the evacuation of 10,000 people. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

“Firefighters made great progress on the ground, aided by aircraft to attack the fire aggressively 24 hours per day,” the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said in a statement about the blaze.

Crews on the ground and in the air have been working around the clock to control the fire, which began at 3 p.m. Sunday near East Fork and Glendora Mountain roads, according to officials with the Angeles National Forest. On Tuesday afternoon, the fire was listed at about 4,100 acres, but by early that evening, it had exploded in size to more than 34,000 acres.

As of 6 a.m. Friday, the fire was listed at 51,884 acres, with 3% containment, fire officials said.

"Today, the Bridge Fire is still active. However, the behavior moderated significantly due to the slight increase in humidity and temperature decrease...Crews continued to be engaged with structure defense in the communities of Wrightwood, Piñon Hills, and Mount Baldy. The ability for crews to also extinguish new fire starts in the vicinity of the Bridge Fire is also a good sign and testament to their success and hard work," fire officials said in a statement on Friday morning.

"The north side of the fire remained the most active. However, more favorable weather conditions aided firefighters in gaining the upper hand on holding the fire on the south side of Highway 2 ...," Friday's statement said.

"On the east side, firefighters were able to directly engage as the fire behaved favorably, backing and flanking slowly down to Mount Baldy Road. ... To the south, firefighters successfully reinforced containment lines and scouted to reopen old dozer lines for contingency planning. ... On the west side of the fire, containment lines are holding, and firefighters are engaged in mop-up, checking the area for hotspots, and extinguishing them ...," Friday's statement said.

Evacuation orders were in effect for:

-- Entire community of Wrightwood.

-- Highway 138 south to Lone Pine Canyon and Highway 2 east to Lone Pine Canyon Road;

-- Pinon Hills from Wrightwood north to Highway 18 and Beekley Road west to LA County;

-- Lone Pine Canyon from the community of Wrightwood to Highway 138/Lone Pine Canyon Road south to the forest;

-- East Fork communities of Camp Williams Resort (cafe, mobile home park, campground) and River Community (near the resort);

-- Mt. Baldy Road, all residents north of the San Antonio Dam up to the Mt. Baldy Resort.

Evacuation warnings were in effect for:

-- The area of Phelan from Highway 138 east to Baldy Mesa Road and Phelan Road south to Sayle Road;

-- San Antonio Heights and Upland from the foothills south to 23rd Street;

-- Pinon Hills from Wrightwood north to Highway 138 and Lebec Road west to Los Angeles County.

Road closures were in effect at the following locations:

-- 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.

An evacuation center was established at the Jesse Turner Center, 15556 Summit Ave., in Fontana.

Other evacuation centers are at:

-- Antelope Valley Fairgrounds: 2551 W Avenue H, Lancaster;

-- San Bernardino County Fairgrounds: 14800 Seventh St., Victorville;

-- Pomona Fairplex: 601 W McKinley Ave., Pomona (Enter Gate 3, corner of McKinley and White);

Animal evacuation centers are at:

-- Devore Animal Shelter (pets/livestock): 19777 Shelter Way, San Bernardino. Call 909-386-9820, or after hours: 800-472-5609;

-- Palmdale Animal Care Center (small animals): 38550 Sierra Highway, Palmdale;

-- Lancaster Animal Care Center (small animals): 5210 W. Ave. I, Lancaster;

-- Antelope Valley Fairgrounds (large animals): 2551 W. Ave. H, Lancaster. Call 562-706-8581 prior to arrival.

Officials also said the Incident Management Team was in the process of setting up a public meeting at 6 p.m. Saturday that would be livestreamed on Facebook, with a goal of having an "in-person location for the meeting, if possible, hopefully in/near the Phelan area."

Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony Marrone said that as of Wednesday morning, the fire had destroyed about 20 homes in the Mount Baldy area, 13 homes in the Wrightwood area and six cabins in the wilderness areas affected by the blaze.

But Marrone said no significant injuries were reported and no deaths.

Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna Wednesday that an off-duty sheriff's deputy and two people with him in the fire zone were trapped by the flames near the Mount Baldy area. He said they were not injured, but rescue teams hoping to hoist them to safety were unable to immediately reach the trio due to the heavy smoke in the area, forcing them to simply wait for conditions to improve.

Those three people were safely evacuated from the area about 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, and were treated for minor injuries, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.

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."

"The safety of our community members is our number one priority, and we will continue to assist residents in any way that we can. We encourage all residents in the affected areas who have been given an order to evacuate to please listen to the orders. If we're asking you to evacuate, there is no property worth risking your life for," Luna said.

Forest visitors were being evacuated from the area, the Angeles National Forest announced on social media.

The Bridge Fire was one of three large wildfires burning in Southern California this week. The Line Fire had burned 37,589 acres in San Bernardino County by Thursday evening and was 21% contained, while the Airport Fire in Riverside and Orange counties had burned 23,410 acres and was at 5% containment.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District extended an air quality advisory until at least 11 p.m. Friday for Los Angeles, Orange and Riverside counties due to smoke from all three wildfires.

The cause of the Bridge Fire was not immediately known.

City News Service, the Associated Press and Patch staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.