More than 100 homes destroyed in California fire

At least one structure was destroyed by the flames fanned by winds and high heat. The cause of the fire was under investigation.

The fast-moving fire destroyed an iconic pit stop that has served locals, Historic Route 66 and interstate travelers since 1952.

The Blue Cut Fire raging in San Bernardino County in Southern California has now scorched 30,000 acres, a big jump from 18,000 acres Tuesday night.

The inferno prompted orders for residents of the community of Wrightwood, about 75 miles (120 km) east of Los Angeles, to leave their homes, said Lynne Tolmachoff, of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

The hospital opening was the latest sign that life near Lake County’s latest wildland fire – in some areas – is returning to normal.

“In my 40 years of fighting fire, I’ve never seen fire behavior so extreme as it was yesterday”, Michael Wakoski, the incident commander on the fire, said Wednesday. San Bernardino County Sheriff John McMahon said deputies were continuing those evacuations Wednesday. “It went from “have you heard there’s a fire?’ to ‘mandatory evacuation” before you could take it all in”. “The worst thing that can happen is for people to wait until the last minute”.

Late Tuesday, residents in the area reported on social media heavy traffic and congested roads as they evacuated their homes and headed toward several evacuation centers in surrounding areas. Video showed towering flames roaring along the freeway, and burning through neighborhoods as the sun began to set. She learned later that authorities did save the animals, but officials could not tell her if her home survived.

“We are definitely entering a very hot and dry pattern, and drought conditions play a very large role”, said Dan Berlant, a spokesman for CalFire, the statewide fire agency. “The smoke was so thick, as soon as the smoke cleared, we could see everything was gone”.

The fire broke out late Tuesday morning 60 miles east of Los Angeles in Cajon Pass and spread with astonishing speed over 28 square miles, burning an unknown number of homes and threatening many more.

The blaze, called the Blue Cut fire, was uncontrolled, fire officials said.

Roads in the region were still closedWednesday-including a portion of the main route between Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Although there was no official count on how many homes were lost, Eric Sherwin of the San Bernardino County Fire Department said Tuesday that he had seen at least a dozen buildings go up in flames, some of them homes.

“It’s disgusting”, said Shad Boyd, 49, a retired transportation worker who lives in the desert city of Adelanto a few miles downwind from the fire. “The skies are black, the ash has covered the cars and the driveway”. “I believe the acreage of fire will grow over the course of time”. Wind pushed flames through the hills and toward residential communities tucked into the forest, he said.

Six firefighters were briefly trapped by flames at a home where the occupants had refused to leave, forcing the crew to protect the house, fire officials said.

“Firefighters were able to shelter in place within a nearby structure, but two firefighters sustained minor injuries”. They brought a fire engine with them.

Fire officials say the blaze 60 miles east of Los Angeles has scorched almost 47 square miles as of Wednesday morning, up from 28 square miles Tuesday night.

The Clayton Fire in Northern California began spreading on August 13.

About 600 miles to the northwest, the so-called Clayton Fire was 40 percent contained on Wednesday morning after charring 4,000 acres in and around the community of Lower Lake and destroying 175 homes and businesses.

The Chimney Fire was 20 percent contained by Tuesday evening, after scorching 6,900 acres (2,792 hectares) since Saturday.