Southland Finally Catches A Break: Cooldown Helps Slow Wildfires

CALIFORNIA — A tense night passed in Southern California's fire-ravaged communities as crews worked to take advantage of the turn in the weather Thursday.

It largely worked.

For the first time, authorities announced a level of containment for the Airport Fire threatening homes in Orange and Riverside counties. As of Thursday evening, it was 5 percent contained and held to 23,410 acres, with almost 800 firefighters on the ground and more coming to assist.

In the San Bernardino Mountains, firefighters have taken a stance to protect the populous resort community of Big Bear from the Line Fire. It's been a fierce firefight frequently conducted in dangerously steep and densely forested territory. As of Thursday, the fire continued to creep up toward Big Bear but was held to 37,207 acres with 18 percent containment.

"While the fire is moving laterally through dense brush in Best Creek, which hasn’t burned in 50 years, crews are working diligently to secure fire lines to protect Big Bear," CalFire officials announced Thursday morning.

It's the Bridge Fire, the largest of the three wildfires plaguing the Southland, that continues to burn without containment, keeping communities all around the San Gabriel Mountains and into the high desert on edge. On Thursday morning, the blaze had reached 51,167 acres and continued to threaten more than a thousand homes after destroying dozens on Tuesday.

In the tight-knit community of Wrightwood that sits on the Pacific Crest Trail, authorities implored residents to evacuate the exploding Bridge Fire, which burned 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.”

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.

California is only now heading into the teeth of the wildfire season but already has seen nearly three times as much acreage burn than during all of 2023. The White House said President Joe Biden was monitoring the wildfires in the West and urged residents to heed state and local evacuation orders.

Cooler temperatures were expected to potentially start tempering fire activity as the week progresses.

The full extent of the damage was not immediately known as firefighters battled multiple fires simultaneously.

Across the three major wildfires, at least a dozen people, mainly firefighters, were treated for injuries that were mostly heat-related, authorities said. One person from Orange County was burned. No deaths have been reported.

The wildfires have been endangering tens of thousands of homes and other structures across the region after they sprung to life during a triple-digit heat wave over the weekend.

With so many fires raging at once, crews were at their limits, Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said.

“As a region, we’re currently at drawdown for fire personnel and resources,” he said, adding that authorities have requested assistance from Northern California and nearby states.

Gov. Gavin Newsom sent National Guard troops in to help with evacuations.

In El Cariso Village, a community of 250 along Highway 74 in Riverside County, an Associated Press photographer saw at least 10 homes and several cars engulfed in flames.

Kevin Fetterman, Orange County Fire Authority Incident Commander, said the blaze has been difficult to tame because of the terrain and dry conditions and because some areas hadn't burned in decades.

More than 5,500 homes in Riverside County were under evacuation orders, affecting more than 19,000 residents. Several recreational cabins and structures in the Cleveland National Forest were damaged, though damages were still being assessed.

In San Bernardino County, some 65,600 homes and buildings were under threat by the Line Fire, and residents along the southern edge of Big Bear Lake were told to leave Tuesday.

The Line Fire blanketed the area with a thick cloud of dark smoke, which provided shade for firefighters trying to get ahead of winds expected later Wednesday, said Fabian Herrera, a spokesperson for the Line Fire.

A man from the town of Norco suspected of starting the Line Fire on Sept. 5 was arrested and charged with arson, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department said. Officials did not specify what was used to start the fire.

Investigators collected evidence from the delivery driver’s vehicle and home that suggests he could have been involved in starting other fires, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said Wednesday.

During a news conference Wednesday, Dicus said an automated license plate reader helped lead investigators to Halstenberg, and a search of his truck and home uncovered evidence relevant to the case.

Dicus said detectives were also looking into whether Halstenberg may be responsible for other fires in the area. Investigators were unable to share details about how the fire ignited, but said that was one component being examined for potential connections to other fires.

"I believe in my heart of hearts...once everything is said and done and we actually forensically take a closer look at this case, we're going to find out that this person was probably responsible for more fires than what we are aware of at this point," added Dicus.

It wasn't immediately clear which other fires Dicus may have been referring to. The Airport Fire was started accidentally by Orange County public works crews moving boulders in an effort to prevent wildfires being started by off-roaders during the heatwave, according to the authorities.

The cause of the massive Bridge Fire remains unknown.

SEE ALSO: 18 Images Show CA Wildfires Wreaking Havoc On State

Here is the latest on the biggest fires that are threatening life and property:

The Airport Fire

The Airport Fire broke out in Orange County on Trabuco Creek Road near the remote-controlled airplane airport in Trabuco Canyon at around 1:15 p.m. Monday, the Orange County Fire Authority reported.

The brush fire authorities said was unintentionally caused by county workers raged through the foothills Wednesday, jumping Ortega Highway to destroy multiple homes as it pressed from Orange County into Riverside County.

Thousands were forced to evacuate as the blaze threatened their communities.

The wildfire burned through 23,410 acres with five percent containment as of 11 a.m. Thursday, according to the Orange County Fire Authority.

Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi said about 770 firefighters were battling the blaze "and more are coming to assist."

"This marine layer and cooler temperatures along with the higher relative humidity are helping firefighters grow our containment fires and extinguish hot spots," Concialdi said Thursday morning. "Unfortunately, due to the marine layer helicopters were unable to fly last night, but starting this morning our firefighters are improving those containment lines and going into those burn areas and extinguishing hot spots."

As temperatures rise Thursday, "residents will see smoke," Concialdi said.

Cooler temperatures and denuded hillside were helping firefighters slow the fire immensely through Tuesday and Wednesday night, resulting in a slower spread of the flames, authorities said.

Orange County fire officials also reported that structures have been damaged or destroyed in the Long Canyon, Ortega Highway and CCC camp area. It was not immediately known how many buildings were consumed by the blaze.

The raging fire threatened thousands of homes and structures in southwest Riverside County, forcing evacuations and polluting air quality for days on end. While authorities continue battling the flames, some evacuation orders in both Riverside and Orange counties were downgraded to voluntary as of 5 p.m. Thursday.

See evacuation updates in Riverside County here.

For a map of Orange County evacuations and more updates, click here.

For the most recent Airport Fire Patch updates, click here.

Orange County Fire Authority investigators found that the cause of the Airport Fire was unintentional, caused by a spark from heavy equipment being used by two Public Works employees on Trabuco Creek Road earlier that day.

The equipment was being used to replace barriers out in the area to restore a pathway, Orange County Fire Authority Deputy Chief TJ McGovern said during a Monday news conference.

According to investigators, a spark from the equipment resulted in a fire that the two employees were unable to put out.

The Line Fire

The Line Fire broke out at approximately 6:30 p.m. Sept. 5 near Base Line Road and Aplin Street in the San Bernardino County community of Highland. As of Thursday afternoon, it had ripped through 37,589 acres with containment at 18%.

Fire officials said they were hopeful that better weather, with lower temps and higher humidity expected, would help fire crews gain a better foothold on the blaze.

Late Tuesday night, a 34-year-old Norco man was arrested on suspicion of intentionally setting the blaze. Prosecutors in San Bernardino County filed nine felony charges Thursday, alleging he set two fires in Highland before igniting a third that would become the Line Fire. He is scheduled for an arraignment hearing Friday morning. Read more here.

Three firefighters have been injured battling the inferno, and thousands of residents are under evacuation orders and warnings, including in popular Southern California mountain resort communities such as Big Bear, Running Springs and Angelus Oaks. Several roads leading up to those destinations are closed due to the fire, and many schools are closed.

An update on the firefighter injuries was not immediately available.

Despite the fire's ferocity, crews have kept the blaze away from structures. On Wednesday morning, fire officials said the blaze destroyed a U.S. Forest Service lookout, and crews were investigating reports of one structure burned in the Running Springs area.

Cal Fire said crews were deployed around Big Bear to guard nearby communities as flames from a spot fire moved northeast toward the lake. On Thursday morning, fire officials said efforts to reinforce a fuel break were underway and more favorable weather was helping firefighters hold the line.

The Bridge Fire

A wildfire burning in the San Gabriel Mountains has scorched nearly 51,167 acres as of Thursday afternoon, and there is zero containment on the blaze. By Tuesday night, the blaze had torn through mountain communities destroying homes in the Mt. Baldy and Wrightwood areas and burning through Mountain High resort, live camera feeds from the resort showed.

"On the south end, the fire jumped Glendora Ridge Road up to Sunset Peak, which was highly visible at night from the inland cities below," according to a Thursday morning statement from Cal Fire.

"Despite the extreme fire behavior, lack of resources, and challenges firefighters faced, they successfully defended homes, and no communication towers went down. Firefighters held the lines they had west of Mount Baldy Road and continued to prioritize securing contingency lines to the south. By the public heeding evacuations, firefighters could get in and engage in the structure defense they needed," the Cal Fire statement said

Los Angeles County Fire Department Chief Anthony Marrone said that as of Wednesday, 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.

Marrone 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.

Read more about the Bridge Fire here.

Find up-to-date evacuation information here.

The Boone Fire

Firefighters have gained the upper hand on the 17,600-acre Boone Fire burning in Fresno County. The blaze broke out Sept. 3, and was 83 percent contained by Wednesday morning.

"The fire has mainly been creeping and smoldering in rugged terrain within the fire perimeter," Calfire officials wrote in a fire update Tuesday morning. "Crews continue suppression repair and work on establishing and strengthening control lines. Today, weather remains hot and dry with temperatures in the 90-degrees, though a slight cooling trend will occur in the fire area over the next several days with expected 35 mph wind gusts on Wednesday."

As of Thursday, there were no reports of structure damage or injuries. The cause of the blaze remains under investigation.

Air Quality Concerns

The South Coast Air Quality Management District extended an air quality alert for Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties due to increased fine particle pollution from wildfire smoke in the region and high smog (ozone) levels.

Smog levels are exacerbated by the heat wave and wildfire particulates.

Officials are urging residents to remain indoors with windows and doors closed and avoid rigorous physical activity.

As of Thursday, large swaths of Southern California were under a smoke advisory.

"Additionally, people with respiratory or heart disease, older adults, and children are particularly susceptible and should avoid prolonged exposure, strenuous activities or heavy exertion as conditions dictate," according to the National Weather Service.

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