LOS ANGELES — Crews were turning a corner on a 990-acre wildfire burning near Wrightwood in the Angeles National Forest, reaching 35% containment Tuesday.
The blaze, which ignited Saturday, exploded in size over the weekend as firefighters contended with soaring temperatures and a drought-dried landscape primed to burn.
Officials described a challenging firefight with dense vegetation, steep terrain and high and erratic winds, but conditions Tuesday appeared more favorable. San Bernardino County Fire Department Battalion Chief Mike McClintock said crews were “not seeing any active fire growth, which is a really good thing.”
“Crews made really great work both yesterday and last night working on those containment lines,” McClintock said. “We really took advantage of those low winds and cooler temperatures yesterday, and we’re hoping to continue that today and keep ticking up that containment figure.”
Nearly 700 firefighters have been attacking the fire from the air and ground, he said.
Despite concerns that Tuesday could present new challenges as temperatures crept back up and winds returned, McClintock said strong gusts had largely failed to manifest. A wind advisory from the National Weather Service expired at 11 a.m.
“Things are looking really good,” McClintock said. “Obviously we’re monitoring as we go, but we’re not seeing any wind shifts that are causing major concern right now.”
That said, heat is still expected to return this week, said Adam Roser, a meteorologist with the weather service in Oxnard.
“Temperatures around the fire will be in the upper 70s today and warming up through tomorrow and Thursday, when we’ll get into the 80s over there,” he said. “Humidity will be going down to around 10%.”
In fact, the warming trend will be felt throughout Southern California, where temperatures in Los Angeles County could soar as high as 105 degrees in the valleys and 100 degrees in mountain areas on Wednesday and Thursday, the weather service said.
Palm Springs and Thermal could hit 109 and 110 degrees, respectively, by Thursday, according to the forecast.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District has also issued a smoke advisory warning of potentially unhealthy conditions near the fire.
“If you smell smoke or see ash due to a wildfire, limit your exposure by remaining indoors with windows and doors closed or seeking alternate shelter, and avoiding vigorous physical activity,” the agency said.
Evacuation orders spurred by the fire remained in place Tuesday, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, including Desert Front Road and Wild Horse Canyon; Highway 2 south to Lone Pine Canyon Road; and Wright Mountain Road to Sheep Creek Drive.
An evacuation center has been established at Serrano High School in Phelan, and animal evacuation centers are available at the Devore Animal Shelter and San Bernardino County Fairgrounds. Residents are advised to contact San Bernardino Animal Care and Control in advance for animal evacuation assistance.
An evacuation warning was also in place for the rest of the community of Wrightwood.
McClintock said evacuation orders and warnings would likely be revisited Tuesday afternoon.
“Our incident commanders, our division supervisors and our structure defense folks are evaluating that this morning,” he said. “With the higher percent of containment today and yesterday, I think it’s a good day to talk about that.”
The cause of the fire remains under investigation, the Forest Service said.
