California fire that jumped Interstate 15 calms overnight

Another brush fire on Friday overran Interstate 15, north of San Bernardino, destroying four structures and torching 20 vehicles. Around 300 people have been evacuated, including deaf or partially deaf children and Girl Scouts in nearby campgrounds.

More than 1,000 firefighters were on the scene trying to contain the fire, but by Friday evening it was only five per cent contained. The fire broke out near the northbound lanes around 2:30 p.m., according to the U.S. Forest Service. “You could hear crackling”.

Rain and cooler temperatures provided a welcome relief Saturday as firefighters continued to battle the fire in San Bernardino County, which remained at 3,500 acres and was five percent contained, fire officials said.

Fanned by hot desert winds, the fire started along Interstate 15 – the main highway between Southern California and Las Vegas – and spread quickly. They declined medical attention. You could feel the heat.

The flames burned through several dozen cars and trucks that were abandoned by their fleeing owners on the busy I-15 highway leading from Los Angeles to Las Vegas.

“So, we ran off. We only got our purses and stuff”, Shresha said later.

“It’s a really sick feeling in the pit of your stomach”, Rizvi said, to see the fires and realize a place she knows so well was being irreversibly changed.

Della Cava reported from San Francisco and Woodyard from Los Angeles.

Allevato’s 15-year-old daughter, Leah, was devastated. Some break out near freeways, but it’s very
unusual to have vehicles caught in the flames. “Yesterday, I think, was a good dress rehearsal”.

An interstate in Southern California that was shut down for hours after a wildfire swept across the road and torched 20 vehicles has reopened.

Allevato, a real estate broker, said Sarah and her sister, Leah, 15, had saved their money for two years for the vacation, which was to have to have included a trip to Disneyland and Universal Studios before they returned home to Michigan Tuesday. “I waited so long, and it’s ruined”. Officials say only 10 percent of the fire is under control. California Fire Captain Richard Cordova told The Hollywood Reporter that those owners would be held liable, as their machines prevented the firefighters from helping those who needed it.

A second fire, dubbed the Pine Fire, was reported near Wrightwood, California.