The mother of the 34-year-old man accused of starting the Line fire in southern California – which has scorched at least 38,000 acres (15,378 hectares) and destroyed one home – has spoken out in defense of her son, telling the Los Angeles Times on Thursday that “he did not light that fire”.
Arson-related charges have been filed against Justin Wayne Halstenberg, who is accused of starting the San Bernardino county blaze on 5 September. He is due to be arraigned on Monday according to the San Bernardino county district attorney’s office.
Halstenberg’s mother, Connie Halstenberg, told the Los Angeles Times that there were things that her son does that she does not approve of but that “he is not an arsonist”.
Prosecutors in the San Bernardino county district attorney’s office allege that Halstenberg tried to start a fire in at least two other locations before succeeding. The first, on Bacon Lane in Highland, California, was reported and extinguished by firefighters. “The second was stomped out by a good Samaritan,” the district attorney’s office said.
“Undeterred, he ignited a third fire which is what we now know as the Line fire,” prosecutors said in the statement.
Prosecutors said additional charges may be filed for any further structure damage or injuries as the fire continues.
The full extent of the damage caused by the blaze remains unclear, but Jason Anderson, the San Bernardino county district attorney, said at least one home had been destroyed.
The wildfire was 25% contained as of Saturday. Cool weather over the next several days should help, fire officials said.
The Line fire is burning through dense vegetation that grew after two back-to-back wet winters when snowstorms broke tree branches, leaving behind a lot of “dead and down fuel”, Jed Gaines, a Cal Fire operations section chief, said.
Four firefighters have been injured in the fire, according to Cal Fire, the latest on Friday. Los Angeles news channel KESQ reported that a firefighter had been airlifted to a hospital after experiencing weakness on the frontlines, citing a Cal Fire official.
Acres burned
US wildfires are measured in terms of acres. While the size of a wildfire doesn’t necessarily correlate to its destructive impact, acreage provides a way to understand a fire’s footprint and how quickly it has grown.
There are 2.47 acres in a hectare, and 640 acres in a square mile, but this can be hard to visualise. Here are some easy comparisons: one acre equates to roughly the size of an American football field. London’s Heathrow airport is about 3,000 acres. Manhattan covers roughly 14,600 acres, while Chicago is roughly 150,000 acres, and Los Angeles is roughly 320,000 acres.
Megafire
A megafire is defined by the National Interagency Fire Center as a wildfire that has burned more than 100,000 acres (40,000 hectares).
Containment level
A wildfire’s containment level indicates how much progress firefighters have made in controlling the fire. Containment is achieved by creating perimeters the fire can’t move across. This is done through methods such as putting fire retardants on the ground, digging trenches, or removing brush and other flammable fuels.
Containment is measured in terms of the percentage of the fire that has been surrounded by these control lines. A wildfire with a low containment level, such as 0% or 5%, is essentially burning out of control. A fire with a high level of containment, such as 90%, isn’t necessarily extinguished but rather has a large protective perimeter and a rate of growth that is under control.
Evacuation orders and warnings
Evacuation warnings and orders are issued by officials when a wildfire is causing imminent danger to people’s life and property. According to the California office of emergency services, an evacuation warning means that it's a good idea to leave an area or get ready to leave soon. An evacuation order means that you should leave the area immediately.
Red flag warning
A red flag warning is a type of forecast issued by the National Weather Service that indicates when weather conditions are likely to spark or spread wildfires. These conditions typically include dryness, low humidity, high winds and heat.
Prescribed burn
A prescribed burn, or a controlled burn, is a fire that is intentionally set under carefully managed conditions in order to improve the health of a landscape. Prescribed burns are carried out by trained experts such as members of the US Forest Service and Indigenous fire practitioners. Prescribed burns help remove flammable vegetation and reduce the risk of larger, more catastrophic blazes, among other benefits.
Prescribed burning was once a common tool among Native American tribes who used “good fire” to improve the land, but was limited for much of the last century by a US government approach based on fire suppression. In recent years, US land managers have returned to embracing the benefits of prescribed burns, and now conduct thousands across the country every year.
Thousands of firefighters, aided by cooler weather, made progress on Saturday against three southern California wildfires, and officials in northern Nevada were hopeful that almost all evacuees from a blaze there could soon be home.
Authorities have started scaling back evacuations at the largest blaze. The Bridge fire east of Los Angeles has burned 81 sq miles (210 sq km), torched at least 33 homes and six cabins and forced the evacuation of 10,000 people. Two firefighters have been injured in the blaze, state fire officials said.
Don Freguila, an operations section chief, said on Saturday that containment was estimated at 3% and improving, with nearly 2,500 firefighters working the lines. He said Saturday’s focus would be the fire’s west flank and northern edge near Wrightwood, where air tankers have dropped retardant on the flames in steep, rugged areas inaccessible to ground crews.
“A lot of good work. We’re really beating this up and starting to make some good progress,” Freguila said. He said a new spot fire broke out on Friday night near the Mount Baldy ski area along the blaze’s southern edge, burning only about an acre before crews “buttoned it up”.
The Airport fire in Orange and Riverside counties has been difficult to tame because of the steep terrain and dry conditions, and because some areas had not burned in decades. Reportedly sparked by workers using heavy equipment, it has burned more than 37 sq miles (96 sq km). It was 9% contained as of Saturday.
“Although direct lines have been challenging to build due to rugged terrain, favorable weather conditions have supported their efforts,” the Saturday situation report from the California department of forestry and fire protection said.
Eleven firefighters and two residents have been injured in the blaze, according to the Orange county fire authority. The fire has destroyed at least 27 cabins in the Holy Jim Canyon area, authorities said.
The southern California blazes have threatened tens of thousands of homes and other structures since they escalated during a triple-digit heatwave.
Smoke and ash from the wildfires have degraded the air quality, as the South Coast Air Quality Management District issued advisories for residents to limit their exposure to the smoky orange skies.
The blaze in Nevada near Lake Tahoe broke out last weekend, destroying 14 homes and burning through nearly 9 sq miles (23 sq km) of timber and brush along the Sierra Nevada’s eastern slope. Some 20,000 people were forced from their homes early this week.
Fire officials said there was a 90% chance the last of the evacuees would be able to return to their homes by the end of Saturday.
Containment of the blaze was estimated at 76% Saturday, fire spokesperson Celeste Prescott said. Some of the 700 crew members should soon be sent off to other fires, she added.
Firefighters were mostly mopping up but anticipated winds picking up in the afternoon, and so stood ready to attack any spots that flare up.
“We’re on the verge of big success here,” said Charles Moore, the Truckee Meadows fire district chief.
