A fast-moving brush fire fanned by strong Santa Ana winds erupted early Thursday near the San Bernardino National Forest and quickly charred 75 acres, forcing road closures and prompting mandatory evacuations.
The Old Water fire ignited just after 2 a.m. near Old Waterman Canyon Road and Highway 18 and began rapidly chewing through dense brush along the hillside abutting neighborhoods. About an hour later, officials began evacuating neighborhoods amid concerns that gusty winds could send the fire moving toward homes at the base of the hillside, said Zach Behrens, a spokesperson for the San Bernardino National Forest.
Roughly 80 homes in north San Bernardino neighborhoods that include Mariposa Drive, David Way and Arrowhead Road are under mandatory evacuations. Voluntary evacuations are in place in the city of San Bernardino for all homes north of Foothill Drive between Del Rosa Avenue and Manzanita Drive.
Officials stress that residents in those areas should be prepared to leave at a moment’s notice. The fire had no containment as of Thursday morning.
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“Things happen in a heartbeat with these fires, so we have to be very judicious in keeping people safe,” Behrens said.
Firefighters were successful in stopping forward movement of the blaze in the early morning hours, but officials fear strong Santa Ana winds in the forecast for the region may cause the fire to move toward homes.
Forecasts of strong Santa Ana winds, temperatures in the 90-degree range and low humidity prompted the National Weather Service to issue red flag warnings through 5 p.m. Friday for much of Southern California, including San Bernardino.
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Wind speeds between 25 and 30 mph are expected for much of the region, with gusts up to 55 mph and isolated gusts up to 75 mph below passes and canyons. Winds are expected to strengthen through the morning in the fire area, creating a challenging situation for firefighters, before tapering off into early Friday, according to the weather service.
“As the sun came up, the winds have really picked up,” Behrens said. “It’s more than breezy right now, but it’s not super intense. But this is just the beginning of a two-day high wind event. It’s only going to get worse today.”
The strong wind warnings also prompted Cal State San Bernardino to cancel classes at the campus on Thursday.
The blaze has forced the closure of Highway 18 between 40th Street in San Bernardino, Highway 138 in Crestline and Lake Gregory Drive at Highway 18. It was not immediately known how the fire started, and officials say the cause is under investigation.
Video from the evacuation zones showed residents — some with pets — fleeing the area in their cars as ash from the blaze rained down on their neighborhood.
Resident Bryan Hamel told KTLA-Channel 5 that he realized he would have to leave when the smell of smoke started filling his home in the early morning hours, even before authorities arrived in the neighborhood to announce evacuations.
“Smoke was all in the house, so we started packing our bags,” he told the station. “We went outside and you could just see the flames.”
Firefighters on the scene of the Old Water fire that broke out early Thursday along Highway 18 in San Bernardino.
(OnScene.TV)
The evacuations came amid power outages in San Bernardino County and elsewhere prompted by fire weather. Southern California Edison has already shut off power to more than 17,000 customers in five counties — Kern, Riverside, Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Ventura — and is monitoring 286,000 more customers for possible shut-offs as the day progresses.
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More than 7,000 customers in San Bernardino County are without power as of Thursday. It is not clear if the outages affect anyone in the fire area.
At the same time in Northern California, the Kincade fire, which spread rapidly overnight in Sonoma County, has charred an estimated 10,000 acres and forced residents from their homes.
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