Fast-spreading wildfire in Southern California forces evacuations
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Residents watch a fire known as the Line fire from Highland., California, on Sept 8, 2024.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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SAN DIEGO - An uncontrolled wildfire in Southern California threatened thousands of homes and businesses on Sept 8, after quadrupling in size a day earlier to more than 6,800ha and forcing mandatory evacuation orders for over 11,000 people.
As firefighters struggle to contain the blaze, known as the Line fire, in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains, they are dealing with a dangerous heatwave that is expected to affect Southern California and parts of the Southwest until at least Sept 9.
Mr Christopher Prater, a firefighter and public information officer for San Bernardino County Fire, described a number of other challenges: thunderstorms that produced winds and “erratic fire behaviour”, drones apparently flown by civilians that forced firefighters to ground their aircraft more than once on Sept 7 and resources stretched thin by the number of wildfires roaring across the western United States.
Some of the problematic weather conditions were created by the fire itself.
“The fire itself helped spawn its own thunderstorms,” said Mr Dave Munyan, a meteorologist at the San Diego office of the National Weather Service. “Most of the aviation-based fire tactics had to be suspended yesterday due to the lightning.”
On Sept 8, the region stretching from the Pacific coast to the mountains north-west of Los Angeles, including parts of Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, was under a red flag warning. That is the highest National Weather Service alert for conditions that may result in extreme fire behaviour.
The Line fire started on Sept 5 in the city of Highland, east of Los Angeles, according to San Bernardino County officials and the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
Fuelled by soaring temperatures of over 37.7 deg C and “critically dry” vegetation, the fire spread rapidly on Sept 7 towards the San Bernardino Mountains and grew from about 1,500ha in the morning to more than 6,800ha by Sept 8, according to Cal Fire and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.
As at Sept 8 morning, it was zero per cent contained and threatened more than 35,000 structures, according to Cal Fire. The cause is under investigation. NYTIMES
