TRABUCO CANYON, Calif. — Alex Luna, a 20-year-old missionary, witnessed the sky transition from a vibrant cherry red to an ominous black within a mere 90 minutes as a rapidly spreading wildfire approached the mountain community of Wrightwood. Authorities urgently urged residents to evacuate, leaving their possessions behind and prioritizing their safety.
“It was an incredibly intense scene,” Luna described Tuesday night. “Everything was shrouded in darkness, making it a very unsettling place to be. Ash was raining down like snow.”
Luna was among those who heeded the mandatory evacuation order issued for the community of approximately 4,500 residents located in the San Gabriel Mountains east of Los Angeles. The Bridge Fire, which had consumed 73 square miles (189 square kilometers) by late Tuesday with no containment, is one of three significant wildfires raging in Southern California. These fires pose a serious threat to tens of thousands of homes and other structures.
The fires ignited during a prolonged period of extreme heat, with temperatures exceeding 100 degrees Fahrenheit, which finally subsided on Wednesday. The cooler weather brought hope for firefighters to gain an advantage over the flames.
Other major wildfires are actively burning throughout the Western United States, including in Idaho, Oregon, and Nevada, where approximately 20,000 individuals were forced to flee a blaze outside of Reno.
In Northern California, a fire that erupted on Sunday destroyed at least 30 homes and commercial buildings, along with 40 to 50 vehicles, in Clearlake City, situated 110 miles (117 kilometers) north of San Francisco. The fire resulted in the evacuation of around 4,000 people.
California is just beginning to experience the peak of its wildfire season, but already, the amount of land burned has surpassed that of all of 2023 by nearly three times.
Evacuation orders were expanded on Tuesday night in Southern California as the fires intensified, encompassing parts of the popular ski town of Big Bear. Approximately 65,600 homes and buildings were at risk from the Line Fire, including those under mandatory evacuation orders and those under evacuation warnings, nearly double the number from the previous day.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department announced on Tuesday that a Norco man suspected of igniting the Line Fire in Highland on September 5 had been apprehended and charged with arson. He was held in custody on $80,000 bail.
Residents along the southern edge of Big Bear Lake were instructed to evacuate the area, a popular destination for fishing, biking, and hiking. As of late Tuesday, the blaze had scorched more than 54 square miles (140 square kilometers) of grass and brush, with 14% containment, according to CalFire. The fire enveloped the region in a thick cloud of dark smoke.
The fire disrupted critical radio towers, including communication channels essential for those responding to the emergency. CalFire stated in an update that cooler weather conditions could potentially moderate the fire activity later this week. Public safety power shutoffs were anticipated in portions of the Big Bear and Bear Valley areas.
The acrid air prompted several school districts in the region to close their schools through the end of the week due to safety concerns. State fire managers reported that three firefighters sustained injuries since the blaze was first reported on Thursday.
For Wrightwood, a picturesque town located 60 miles (97 kilometers) east of Los Angeles, known for its charming 1930s cabins, the threat of wildfires has become a recurring reality. Authorities expressed frustration in 2016 when only half of the residents heeded evacuation orders.
Janice Quick, president of the Wrightwood Chamber of Commerce, resides a few miles outside of town. Late Tuesday afternoon, she was enjoying lunch outdoors with friends when they were showered with embers the size of her thumbnail that struck the table, producing a clinking sound.
A friend sent a text message to inform her that their home had been consumed by fire, while another friend was witnessing the embers raining down on their home through a ring camera.
“I’ve never witnessed anything like this, and I’ve been through fires before,” stated Quick, a resident of Wrightwood for 45 years.
In neighboring Orange County, firefighters deployed bulldozers, helicopters, and planes to combat a rapidly spreading blaze known as the Airport Fire. The fire ignited on Monday and expanded to approximately 3 square miles (8 square kilometers) within a mere few hours. Officials attributed the fire’s origin to a spark from heavy equipment used by public workers.
By Tuesday night, the fire had consumed over 30 square miles (78 square kilometers) and was advancing over mountainous terrain into neighboring Riverside County with no containment, according to Orange County Fire Authority Capt. Steve Concialdi. The fire damaged some communication towers atop a peak, although officials have not received reports of disruptions to police or fire communication signals in the area.
Concialdi explained that the fire was moving away from homes in Orange County, but there are 36 recreational cabins in the vicinity. He mentioned that authorities are still determining whether the cabins were damaged or destroyed by the blaze.
Two firefighters who sustained heat-related injuries and a resident who experienced smoke inhalation were treated at a hospital and subsequently released.
Sherri Fankhauser, her husband, and daughter had set up lawn chairs and were watching helicopters drop water onto a burning hillside a few hundred yards from their Trabuco Canyon home on Tuesday.
They chose not to evacuate despite a mandatory evacuation order for their street issued on Monday. A neighbor assisted Fankhauser’s 89-year-old mother-in-law in evacuating, Fankhauser noted. The flames subsided overnight but reignited in the morning.
“You can see fire cresting the ridge now,” Fankhauser remarked on Tuesday afternoon. “It’s getting a bit more concerning.”