The wind-driven Post brush fire in Gorman north of Los Angeles continued to push south to less than a mile from Pyramid Lake on Monday, June 17, while fires in Hesperia and another east of Moreno Valley in the Inland Empire were well under control, authorities said.
The Post fire, burning along the 5 Freeway, increased in size overnight by about 1,000 acres to 15,610 acres with 8% containment.
Containment is the percentage of a fire that crews have encircled with a line created by hand, hose lines or natural breaks such as rivers, that crews are confident the flames will not jump.
Kenichi Haskett, a spokesman for the Post fire commanders, said at midday Monday that the eastern flank of the fire is a couple of miles from Pyramid Lake and its campgrounds, while the western flank is within eyesight of the lake. There are picnic tables, offices, restrooms and other buildings on the property.
Hand crews are hiking up steep, rugged terrain to battle the flames, which conceivably could reach the lake by Monday night if those efforts are unsuccessful, Haskett said.
“The wind is moving it around a little bit, making it challenging to the firefighters in those areas,” Haskett said. “Luckily, we were able to get a good handle on it, but it’s still moving around. There is potential for it to behave erratically because of the winds, and then you get the spot fires.”
Haskett said he was unaware of any large-scale evacuations of animals or threats to historic structures.
Ten commercial buildings and 50 homes remained threatened, officials said. One commercial property was destroyed.
The fire prompted the evacuation of about 1,200 people from the Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area. Pyramid Lake was also closed, and street closures were in place south of Ralphs Ranch Road at Quail Lake Road.
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for the 5 Freeway corridor in Los Angeles County mountains until 5 p.m. Monday because of strong northwest-north winds and low humidity. Wind gusts of 45 to 55 mph were forecast across ridge tops. Although the freeway is open, Caltrans recommended that campers and trailers wait until the winds die down to travel that route. Updates on road conditions are available at the Caltrans website at roads.dot.ca.gov/roadscell.php.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a wildfire smoke advisory for the Santa Clarita and Castaic areas, with winds expected to push smoke from the fire southeast toward Santa Clarita, the San Fernando Valley and parts of the Angeles National Forest. The SCAQMD advised people to remain indoors with windows and doors closed, avoid vigorous physical activity and to run their air conditioners or air purifiers.
The Post fire started at about 1:45 p.m. Saturday at Ralph’s Ranch and Gorman School roads, near 5 Freeway.
In Hesperia, the fire did not grow overnight, but the 1,078-acre blaze’s containment increased to 30% from 20%, said Chloe Castillo, a spokeswoman for Cal Fire’s San Bernardino Unit.
No injuries or damage to structures had been reported.
Even better news, the Hesperia fire was being pushed by winds from the west toward a natural fire break, the Mojave River, and not to the north toward Arrowhead Equestrian Estates.
An evacuation warning remained in effect Monday, but residents of that development have not evacuated, Castillo said. They just need to be prepared to leave should the fire change direction again. Portions of Arrowhead Lake Road remained closed to allow the free movement of equipment, she said.
When the wind from the north shifted around 1:30 p.m. Sunday, dense brush caught fire.
“That put up a lot of smoke and caused a lot of concern, but the boots on the ground were not concerned because they had a line around it,” Castillo said Monday morning. “As of now, things are going great.”
She said no large-scale animal evacuations have taken place nor have any historical sites been threatened.
The fire was reported just after 6 p.m. Saturday in the 18000 block of Highway 173.
East of Moreno Valley, the 867-acre Lisa fire did not grow overnight while containment increased to 50%.
“It looks really good,” said Tawny Castro, a spokeswoman for the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department. “We don’t expect any changes except other than the containment percentages.”
The remote, rugged terrain has made it difficult for ground crews to get to the flames, Castro said. But no structures have been threatened and no injuries had been reported.
The Lisa fire was reported at 1:11 p.m. Sunday in the area of Gilman Springs Road and Alessandro Boulevard.
City News Service contributed to this report.
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