The flare-up of Line fire worsened Monday as evacuation orders were extended and firefighters lost some ground trying to contain the wildfire in San Bernardino County.
The new acres charred also pushed California past a grim milestone: 1 million acres burned in 2024.
The line fire, which has burned in San Bernardino County for nearly a month, began spreads faster during the weekend due to abnormally warm temperatures that sucked moisture from vegetation and air, according to Cal Fire. The fire was reduced from 83% to 78% on Monday.
“Firefighters had expected some movement” of the fire, but its behavior “exceeded expectations,” Cal Fire said Monday update.
The Red Cross opened a new evacuation shelter at the Apple Valley Conference Center on Monday to support those affected by the Line fire, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. The center is at 14975 Dale Evans Parkway. The evacuation shelter at Redlands East Valley High School, 31000 E. Colton Ave., remained open.
The line fire has now burned a total of 43,459 hectares – which together with previous fires, including the ongoing bridge and Airport fires — has pushed the total number of acres burned in California this year to 1,000,181 as of late Monday, according to Cal Fire.
This far exceeds the total number of hectares burned during the same time period last year – 293,362 – but is roughly on par with the five-year average for the period.
The devastating Park fire in northern California contributed significantly to the milestone, burning nearly 430,000 acres between July 24 and September 26 when it reached full containment. It is the fourth largest fire in California history, according to Cal Fire.
So far this fire season, a total of 1,433 structures have been destroyed, and one death has been reported, the agency said.
The line fire has damaged or destroyed five structures and resulted in four firefighters. The suspect arson started on September 5 and one arrest has been made.
On Sunday, residents in the Seven Oaks and Barton Flats area were ordered to evacuate due to the immediate fire threat. On Monday, that order was expanded to include Angelus Oaks and the community of Big Bear Lake, including Moonridge, Sugarloaf and south Erwin Lake.