Crews Gain Ground On Northern California Fire

In southern California, an out-of-control wildfire that ignited Tuesday in a mountain pass east of Los Angeles has forced mass evacuations and destroyed an untold number of homes and businesses.

“There is imminent threat to public safety, rail traffic and structures in the Cajon Pass, Lytle Creek, Wrightwood, Oak Hills, and surrounding areas”.

More than 34,000 homes and 82,000 residents are under evacuation warnings.

Six hours after it was first sparked, more than 700 firefighters were assigned to fight the Blue Cut fire which remained 0% contained and was still growing rapidly. High temperatures and winds have created fire tornadoes that television crews captured getting close to emergency personnel.

The fire, which was started by an illegal campfire July 22, has burned more than 118 square miles, destroyed 57 homes and led to the death of a man in a bulldozer accident.

The hospital opening was the latest sign that life near Lake County’s latest wildland fire – in some areas – is returning to normal.

Officials said about 700 firefighters were battling to control the blaze in an area called the Cajon Pass, the latest in a series of wildfires that have blackened almost 300,000 acres (121,400 hectares) of the drought-parched U.S. West.

In a sign of progress, fire officials lifted numerous evacuation orders in the town Tuesday, allowing about 4,000 residents to return.

Ash rained down from above as motorists snapped pictures and videos of the large black and gray plume rising above the Cajon Pass. Smoke could be seen in Big Bear Lake. It was unclear how many structures have been destroyed by the inferno.

The brush fire is blazing in San Bernardino County, about 30 miles east of central Los Angeles.

Authorities said the town was near the site where the fire began. “I’m seeing outbuildings. I’m seeing houses”, he said.

Drought-stricken California has been hit with waves of wildfires this summer, fueled by dry conditions, heat and dead brush.

Despite firefighters from almost every community statewide being called into service, the Blue Cut fire continued to advance through the canyons, valleys and mountains of rural San Bernardino County, about 60 miles east of Los Angeles.

After 1,500 acres burned past year on the 1,700-acre ranch where Comstock grew up and still lives, he has cleared out brush to make fire breaks – a ritual familiar to other Californians who live in areas traditionally associated with wildfires. Crews in the fire zone on Wednesday are expected to face temperatures in the 90s, winds of 30-40 miles per hour and humidity of 3-10 percent. Climate change has extended the west’s traditional fire season by 78 days since the 1970s, running from June to October.

Out of all the United States, 20 major fires now burning, mostly in western countries, 6 in California, seven in the Rocky Mountains and one in Idaho, according to the website of the website of the National Center cross -Advertising on fire (NIFC).