Though evacuations were lifted for some 1,000 homeowners in Santa Clarita, a similar order for residents in the San Bernardino National Forest remained in place Thursday morning, authorities said.
The weather, meanwhile, isn't exactly cooperating.
Crews in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties face another day of hot, breezy conditions that will continue to dry out fuel in the path of the flames, the National Weather Service said.
Los Angeles County firefighters battling a fast-moving blaze in Santa Clarita on Thursday afternoon will be digging in fire lines and dragging heavy hoses up hillsides in 90-degree heat with wind gusts up to 20 mph, said senior forecaster Andrew Rorke.
In the San Bernardino National Forest, where a wind-shift Wednesday breathed new life into a blaze that had been burning since June 17 and had recently slowed to a crawl, firefighters will have to deal with more wind, though there may be a slight dip in temperatures, Rorke said.
He described the conditions as “just not horrendously detrimental.”
When the Santa Clarita fire started about 1 p.m. Wednesday, it was about 3 acres in size. Winds over the mountains were gusting at 20 to 30 mph, according to the National Weather Service, and within hours the fire had burned through 350 acres. It was 45% contained early Thursday, authorities said.
Flames spread into Wildwood Canyon, an open space with steep ravines and dense foliage that's partly surrounded by large homes.
Several of those homes were threatened, and some residents said flames came within five feet of their houses. At least one structure caught fire: a garage at the home of Daniel Mortensen.
The 47-year-old attorney said he raced home from his office, about one mile away, after his wife alerted him to the fire. He was still wearing his suit when he arrived.
“I tore all that off and ran up to the roof,” Mortensen said. As he was hosing down the roof, he said, a tree nearby caught fire and ignited the garage.
Conceding to the blaze, he and his wife took their two children, two cats and dog to his mother-in-law's Valencia home, where they watched their garage burn on live TV.
Firefighters managed to douse the flames and stop the fire from spreading.
“They really put up a fight. They saved us,” Mortensen said of the fire crews. “It was going to go.”
The Lake fire in the San Bernardino National Forest, meanwhile, has burned through nearly 21,000 acres since it started last week.
More than 1,900 people have been deployed to battle the fire, which was 27% contained late Wednesday. Officials are continuing to investigate what sparked the blaze, the largest this year in California’s national forests. Officials estimate the firefight has cost $14 million.
Late Wednesday, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department ordered residents of Burns Canyon and Rimrock to evacuate, with Pioneertown under a voluntary evacuation, sheriff’s officials said.
A shelter was set up at Copper Mountain College in Yucca Valley, whose municipal animal shelter is housing small animals.
About 360 campers and staff at Camp Oakes were also evacuated Wednesday, with campers sent to a church, then bused to their home cities, according to the camp’s Facebook announcement.
About 6 p.m., officials also grounded all fixed-wing planes involved in the firefight after a drone was spotted near Onyx Summit.
A smoke advisory remains in effect for Yucca Valley, Morongo Valley, Lucerne Valley and neighboring communities, according to the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District.
Staff writer Matt Hamilton contributed to this report.
©2015 the Los Angeles Times. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
