Fire in San Bernardino Mountains expands, one-fifth contained
The Lake Fire, one of several burning in high temperatures and extreme drought in the West, grew overnight as containment lines dropped.
As of 6:30 a.m. Pacific time Thursday, the fire had consumed 23,199 acres, according to the U.S. Forest Service. About 21% of the fire is contained, which is a drop from 27% Wednesday night.
The fire is burning in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles in an area that hasn't suffered a major wildfire in more than a century — a duration that makes such a blaze long overdue.
A giant plume of smoke is coming from the eastern section of the Lake Fire, but it's not indicative of a new blaze in the area, an official said, but has prompted a mandatory evacuation in the Burns Canyon and Rimrock areas and a voluntary order in Pioneertown.
The plume is within the fire's existing perimeter and it was likely caused by flames that found new fuel, said Lee Beyer, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. Most of the fire's spread can be attributed to burning material rolling downhill and reigniting ground fuel, although the Forest Service also attributes the jump in acreage to better mapping of the fire's southern portion. In just two days, the cost of fighting the fire rose from about $7 million to $14 million.
It grew throughout Wednesday morning, prompting mandatory evacuations in the Burns Canyon and Rimrock areas and a voluntary order for Pioneertown. The fire remains visible across the Coachella Valley.
Although the fire is still spreading east, it's still at least 11 miles from High Desert communities, including Morongo Valley and Pioneertown. Burning rolling material did roll into the headwaters of Little Morongo and Big Morongo Creeks Wednesday at the most eastern point of the fire, but aircraft were able to drop flame retardant on this area to halt the forward progress of any spot fires.
The southern portion of the fire also burned into the fire headquarters near the northern fork of Whitewater.
Fire crews will continue to work these areas on the ground.
The fire was reported about 4 p.m. June 17.
In addition to the 200 campers that were evacuated from nearby campgrounds on June 17 and taken to Citrus Valley High School, 360 more campers were evacuated from Camp Oakes in the Lake Williams area Wednesday afternoon. They were transported by the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department to the American Red Cross Evacuation Center at Big Bear Community Church.
