Crews battling the three large-scale wildfires burning in Southern California continued to make steady gains on Sunday, as more favorable weather conditions helped keep the blazes from growing much further.
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The acres burned by the Bridge fire in the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains, the Airport fire in Orange and Riverside counties and the Line fire in the San Bernardino Mountains were little changed for the second day in the row, while containment figures in the three blazes grew steadily.
With similar weather expected in the coming days, fire officials said they expect to continue making progress while assessing exactly how much damage the massive wildfires have caused.
Bridge fire
Having spread earlier in the week from San Gabriel Canyon above Glendora into San Bernardino County, the size of the Bridge fire was estimated at 54,658 acres on Sunday — an increase from the 53,783-acre estimate a day earlier.
Meanwhile, containment of the fire jumped from 5% on Saturday to 9% on Sunday, with the gains coming on the blaze’s southern flank.
Containment is the percentage of a fire’s border that officials believe flames won’t break.
The containment gain for the Bridge fire came despite helicopters not being able to operate in the area overnight due to smoke hampering pilots visibility, officials said. Instead, bulldozers and hand crews worked to strengthen the containment lines on the ground.
Fire officials described the northwest flank of the fire as being the most active and the highest priority, as it threatens to back down to Big Pines Road and Forest Service campground infrastructure. A significant number of fallen trees have also slowed down crews, who have to take the time to remove them.
On the northeast side, the blaze has reached drainages on the west side of the North Fork of Little Creek, where crews are setting up dozer lines and directly attacking the fire where possible to stop it’s spread.
On the east side, the fire is less active, officials said, allowing crews to defend structures and begin mop-up operations along Mt. Baldy Road. The fire is still a potential risk to the Mount Baldy area, however, leading to evacuation orders remaining in place.
On the west side, crews dealing with the rugged and steep terrain of the Sheep Mountain Wilderness were constructing bulldozer and hand lines. They were aided by aircraft water drops in extinguishing hot spots, particularly near Rattlesnake Peak.
Early Sunday, fire officials announced an interactive map allowing residents to see if their homes were damaged or destroyed in the blaze.
As of early Sunday, that map showed 58 structures destroyed or damaged – with most of them destroyed – and 12,168 structures still threatened by the fire.
Airport fire
The footprint of the Airport fire — burning in the mountains and canyons of Orange and Riverside counties — remained the same into Sunday afternoon.
The size of the 23,519-acre blaze has remained static for two days. The containment — estimated at 19% — was also the same as a day prior.
“We are making good progress all around the fire,” said Albert Ward, an Airport fire operations section chief with the Orange County Fire Authority. “We are being helped by the weather and that weather is expected to continue for a couple days.”
Crews made progress in accessing previously inaccessible areas around Trabuco Canyon Road, where they have built fire lines to help extinguish the blaze. Similar structure protection efforts have been made in the canyon above Lake Elsinore and at the Lazy W Ranch.
Meanwhile, containment lines were being reinforced in Bell Canyon, along Trabuco Canyon road, in the canyon above Lake Elsinore and in other areas impacted by the blaze.
Damage inspection teams were out inspecting structures along the Ortega corridor on Sunday, a process that is expected to take several days to complete.
Cooler temperatures — including drizzle and light showers — have aided firefighter’s efforts. But officials warned that conditions at Modjeska Peak remain dry, and there is still a risk that smoldering vegetation at higher elevations could “roll downhill” and ignite unburned vegetation.
Line fire
The size of the Line fire in the San Bernardino Mountains remained largely unchanged overnight and into Sunday afternoon, only growing from 38,417 acres to 38,804 acres. But the estimated containment continued to grow, moving up to 42% compared to 29% a day earlier.
The blaze was active in the early morning hours of Sunday due to a dry airmass moving through the upper elevations, officials said, leaving the fire smoldering and creeping on the ground in lower elevations under the marine layer.
However, cool conditions continued to prevail in the area, with light rain possible late Sunday into Monday.
As a result, crews were focusing Sunday on strengthening their control lines and mopping up.
Meanwhile, damage inspection teams were fanning out in the area to check on damage to homes, outbuildings and commercial buildings. By mid-Sunday, they had found three structures that were damaged and one that was destroyed.
An Instagram video that drew more than 20,000 “likes” over the past few days thanked fire crews for saving the Running Springs community. The footage showed businesses and vehicles in the Inland Empire community still covered in reddish flame retardant, with the streets largely empty as residents left to escape the blaze.
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