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Southern California Fire Flared Up at 5 Acres. A Day Later, It Covered 30,000. Southern California Fire Flared Up at 5 Acres. A Day Later, It Covered 30,000.
(about 4 hours later)
SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. — The first report of the fire came late on Tuesday morning from the San Bernardino National Forest Service: “5 acres in heavy fuels w/ 10mph winds.” FONTANA, Calif. — The fire in Cajon Pass was first reported as a five-acre blaze along a highway 13 miles northeast of San Bernardino.
Three hours later, the fire had grown to 2,500 acres. Two hours after that, it covered 6,500 acres. And then the wildfire exploded. By nightfall, the fire had topped 18,000 acres and by morning 30,000 acres. So John McColly went about his business when he saw the smoke from Mountain High, a ski resort to the west of Wrightwood, where he works.
More than 24 hours later, none of the Blue Cut Fire was reported to be contained. Ahead of the roaring fire, officials ordered the evacuation of about 82,000 residents in an estimated 34,500 homes. Vehicles packed with residents, their pets and their belongings snaked out of the area. Interstate highways were among the numerous roads closed. Kevin Foree, a roofer working in Bellflower, southwest of the fire, did the same. He figured he would have no trouble getting home to Victorville, which was to the northeast.
The wildfire, which started in the Cajon Pass, about 13 miles northwest of San Bernardino, “hit hard, it hit fast, it hit with an intensity that we haven’t seen before,” said Mark Hartwig, the San Bernardino County fire chief. But the speed of the Blue Cut Fire stunned even experienced fire officials.
A combination of high winds, high temperatures and low humidity in California’s fifth year of drought made for prime wildfire conditions, Bob Poole, a spokesman for the United States Forest Service, said in an interview with KTLA, a Los Angeles television station. Fed by a buffet of shrubs squeezed of moisture and coaxed by the wind, the flames roared through 2,500 acres, then 6,500 acres in a matter of hours. Evacuations were ordered and major highways, including the Interstate that links Los Angeles and Las Vegas, began to close.
Although officials did not know how many houses had been destroyed overnight, on Wednesday they tried to prepare residents for the worst. That, Mr. McColly said, was a signal that it was “time to go.” The ski resort’s 40 or so employees joined thousands of other residents — many with their vehicles packed with whatever fit — fleeing the onrushing flames. More than about 82,000 residents in an estimated 34,500 homes were ordered to evacuate.
“It was devastating,” Chief Hartwig said. “There will be a lot of families that come home to nothing.” By Wednesday, the fire had consumed more than 30,000 acres, burning houses, businesses and outbuildings in its wake. It was still raging out of control late in the day, and officials were warning residents to prepare for the worst.
Among the buildings destroyed was the iconic Summit Inn, a rest stop on the old Route 66. “There will be a lot of families that come home to nothing,” said Mark Hartwig, the San Bernardino County fire chief.
As firefighters moved to try to control the fire, one official warned that it could get worse. Mr. Foree, a transplant from Northern California, was stuck overnight in a Red Cross shelter here. On Wednesday, still wearing his khaki shorts and work boots, he worried that his mother would run low on medication before he could get home. He marveled at the fire, which he said had taken even seasoned locals like his girlfriend’s family by surprise.
“We are in red flag conditions,” said Travis Mason, a spokesman with the San Bernardino National Forest Service. “I believe the acreage of fire will grow over the course of time.” “They have never seen anything like this,” he said.
The incident commander for the fire, Mike Wakowski, said during a news conference that in his 40 years of fighting fires, he had never seen a fire behave this way. Mr. McColly, like many other evacuees from Wrightwood, found safety by heading west toward Pasadena. At midday Wednesday, the resort was still not threatened by the fire.
“The fuels are extremely dry and very explosive this time of year,” he said. Fire officials warned on Wednesday that explosive fires like this one were becoming more common.
Officials also cautioned that explosive fires like this were becoming more common. “It’s to the point where explosive fire growth is the new normal this year, and that’s a challenge for all of us to take on,” said Glenn Barley, the San Bernardino unit chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also known as CalFire.
“One of the things that we’re seeing is that the fires are burning in really an unprecedented fashion,” said Glenn Barley, the San Bernardino unit chief of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, which is known as Calfire. “It’s to the point where explosive fire growth is the new normal this year, and that’s a challenge for all of us to take on.” The fire has been a jolt during a fire season that has been quieter than usual nationwide. So far, experts said, this season has had about a quarter fewer fires start and acres burn for this point in the year.
One woman who evacuated, Cathleen Coakley, 54, of Lytle Creek, said the area had been very dry for several years because of a lack of rain and snow. Nevertheless, several recently ignited wildfires are burning in California, although they have not moved as quickly as Blue Cut. The Chimney Fire, which began on Saturday, has burned 7,300 acres in San Luis Obispo and was 25 percent contained. The Clayton Fire, near Lower Lake in Northern California, started the same day, and has burned nearly 4,000 acres. It was 40 percent contained. And the Soberanes Fire, in Monterey County, has burned almost 80,000 acres over nearly two months.
“The creek is very low. The area is very dry,” said Ms. Coakley, who left behind most of her possessions as she fled, including her dogs. The enduring drought may have played a role here, even as relief comes elsewhere.
“You could see the flames flashing up and going up on the mountains,” she said, adding that she had seen airplanes dropping water. “You’ve had three, four years of drought that’s been going on, so the conditions in the mountains are just prime for a large fire,” said David Simeral, a climatologist and an author for the United States Drought Monitor. “You’ve got all the dry fuels, low humidity and winds, it’s a formula for fires spreading quickly.”
A fleet of 10 air tankers, 15 helicopters and 1,300 firefighters were on the scene, officials said. Helicopters scooped up water, and planes sprayed flame retardant in an effort to get ahead of the fire. Richard Minnich, a professor in the department of earth sciences at the University of California, Riverside, said it was not so much the long-term drought, but the weather of the day — coupled with a fire management strategy in which, he said, small fires are knocked down quickly but larger ones can grow more out of control — that had driven the fire.
The fire forced the closing of a section of Interstate 15, the main highway between Southern California and Las Vegas. The low humidity, Mr. Minnich said, had dried out shrubs and bushes — known as chaparral — making them as flammable as a carpet.
At one point on Tuesday, six firefighters became trapped by the blaze while protecting homes and helping with evacuations in the Swarthout Canyon area west of Cajon Pass, the department said. “It’s got a reputation for burning explosively,” he said of the chaparral, adding, “As soon as it’s blowing up like that, the capacity to stop the fire goes to zero.”
The firefighters, members of two San Bernardino County engine companies, were able to find shelter in a nearby structure. Two had minor injuries and were released from a hospital. No civilian injuries were reported. What no one disputes, however, is that, in less than 24 hours, the fire had turned people’s lives upside down.
Gov. Jerry Brown declared a state of emergency in San Bernardino County on Tuesday because of the fire. That will expedite firefighting resources and help victims who lost important paperwork to replace it without fees or penalties. Outside the shelter here, Cathleen Coakley, 54, stood with her two small dogs. Sheriff’s deputies had canvassed her neighborhood in Lytle Creek on Tuesday, ordering everyone to leave, and she left almost everything behind, including five more dogs and five cats.
“I want to go home. I want to check on my animals,” she said. “You just have to have faith that you will have a home to go to.”