Threat lingers from Southern California wildfires, officials say

After days of multiple wildfires across Southern California in extreme heat, a drop in temperatures finally gave crews a chance to gain the upper hand, though lingering risks remained, officials said.

Fire officials cautioned Thursday that several communities in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Riverside counties were still under evacuation orders, with some of the blazes continuing to show “extreme fire behavior” on the ground. Since last week, the Bridge, Line and Airport fires have raced across more than 100,000 acres combined, or more than 156 square miles of the Southland.

But the pace slowed dramatically in the last day.

“The conditions are improving a little bit — at least weatherwise,” said Bryan Lewis, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Oxnard.

The Bridge fire has consumed at least 20 homes in Wrightwood, Mt. Baldy Village and other mountain towns — with more than 5,700 structures threatened, officials said Thursday.

The fire broke out Sunday in Angeles National Forest and exploded from 4,000 acres to more than 50,000 acres between Tuesday and Wednesday. It had blackened 51,167 acres by Thursday with no containment.

Firefighters were focusing their efforts to protect the communities of Wrightwood, Pinon Hills and Mount Baldy. After days of temperatures that reached into the triple digits, crews will carry on the fight with temperatures hovering in the mid- to low 70s into the weekend, with the possibility of drizzle on Sunday, Lewis said. The weekend weather was also expected to bring a light breeze with 10-mph gusts steering the fire east, he said.

“It’s certainly a little less windy and a little bit higher humidity,” he added. “It should translate to better firefighting conditions, for sure.”

Despite the improving weather, firefighters will still have to grapple with steep and rugged terrain, as well as an abundance of fuel beds and vegetation from back-to-back wet winters. The region charred by the Bridge fire has a long history of fires and has trees stressed by historic drought, so a few days of increased humidity isn’t enough to significantly reduce the landscape’s ability to catch fire.

In the two other major Southern California fires — the Airport fire and the Line fire — at least 13 people, including several firefighters, have been injured.

By Thursday, the Airport fire had charred 23,410 acres in Riverside and Orange counties and was 5% contained, and the Line fire in San Bernardino County had burned 37,589 acres and was 21% contained. Neighborhoods east of both fires remained under evacuation orders.

Orange County Fire Authority officials acknowledged a flare-up occurred in an unburned pocket north of Trabuco Canyon on Thursday evening, but the blaze remained within the fire’s existing perimeter. Crews were conducting reconnaissance along the Santiago Peak fire lines, and heavy equipment operators were constructing a bulldozer line toward Ortega Highway.

Kevin Fetterman, incident commander with the Orange County Fire Authority, said the Airport fire had been hard to mitigate because of dry weather conditions and terrain.

Depending on where crews are located, the conditions around the fire can be very different. Humidity levels on the Airport fire’s west and east flanks were upward of 55%, while on the northern edge in Riverside County near Lake Elsinore humidity was as low as 25%, setting up the vegetation to burn readily. Temperatures around the fire were in the 60s on Thursday, a huge improvement from the extreme heat when the fire first made its run from Orange County to Riverside County.

There’s even the potential for rain around the Airport fire on Monday, said Philip Gonsalves, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in San Diego.

“I don’t think it will put the fire out but it will certainly help,” he added.

For residents who fled the area as the fire spread across two counties, the improved weather conditions were welcomed as they eagerly waited for news about their neighborhood.

Emily Pang, 16, evacuated from her neighborhood in El Cariso two nights ago as flames and smoke ravaged the area. She said that, as far as she knew, her house was still standing — “a miracle.”

“I just accepted that the fire would take my house,” she said, recalling the immense fear that took over as she watched flames engulf the area. “I’m just lucky to be alive.”

Emily is sheltering at Temescal Canyon High School in Lake Elsinore with her parents. About 20 people were there Thursday, a worker said.

Several dogs were housed in a tent outside; a husky tied to a pole outside the center barked for its owner.

Emily was with a neighbor when the Airport fire erupted; her parents were blocked from driving to her, so she met them at the road below, bringing along her school awards, martial arts certificates and figurines that her sister brought back for her from Japan — keepsakes she said are part of her identity.

A friend was at the shelter to visit her; their high school near the mountains was also under evacuation.

Nhoun Pheak, 44, evacuated two days ago after a deputy knocked on his family’s door off Temescal Canyon Road and told them to leave within 10 minutes. The area was filled with smoke.

He left with a backpack filled with clothes and a toothbrush; some of his family is at a hotel while he waits nearby at a shelter. He doesn’t know whether his house is still standing but is hopeful to get back home soon.

“We’re not allowed to go back there yet,” he said.

At least a dozen people have been injured at the Airport fire, including 10 firefighters, officials said.

In San Bernardino County, firefighters battling the Line fire expect the cooperating weather to slow the fire’s growth, but they are still concerned that it could run up and down canyon slopes.

Authorities believe the Line fire was caused by arson. On Tuesday, they took 34-year-old Justin Wayne Halstenberg into custody.

Officials have released few details about how the fire was started Sept. 5.

The suspect’s mother, Connie Halstenberg, said in a text message response to The Times that she was not talking to news media before making an additional comment.

“I do want to say this about my baby boy,” she said. “He did not light that fire, I repeat he did not light that fire.”

On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency for the three fires, which frees up additional state resources to respond and allows the affected counties to recover more funds from the firefight.

Times staff writers Andrew J. Campa, Nathan Solis and Hannah Fry contributed to this report.