Fire crews are beginning to make progress on containing the Bridge Fire in the Angeles National Forest, which is one of 18 wildfires currently burning across California.
The Bridge Fire was first reported around 2 p.m. Sunday as a brush fire at East Fork Road near Glendora Mountain Road, north of San Dimas and west of Mount Baldy in the Angeles National Forest.
According to forest officials, the fire quickly grew from 100 to 800 acres within a few hours of igniting and continued to spread Monday.
As of Tuesday morning, the fire stood at 2,996 acres with 3% containment.
Several road closures are in place due to the Bridge Fire, including:
- Highway 39
- East Fork Road
- Glendora Mountain Road
- Glendora Ridge Road
- Mount Baldy Road at Shinn Road
- San Gabriel Canyon and East Fork San Gabriel River
Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for several communities, including the East Fork communities east of Camp Williams Resort – including the café, mobile home park and campground – as well as the adjacent river community. The Baldy Village area from the dam to Mount Baldy Resort is also under an evacuation order.
However, according to KTLA 5’s Eric Spillman – who was in Mount Baldy Village early Tuesday morning – some residents are staying put for now.
“When you don’t see the big [smoke] column, the fire-red skies and you don’t feel high winds blowing, that calms you down a little,” one man told Spillman, adding that he noticed “a mix” of neighbors preparing to evacuate, but not everyone. “Families with kids, they’re probably on top of it…but other folks without kids and who have been here years and years are probably sitting tight for a while.”
No structures were immediately threatened by the blaze, but some elderly residents were not able to pack their belongings and leave right away, causing relatives to gather at a roadblock to try to go up and help them overnight, but they were not allowed to.
“My grandparents are up there right now…they are 92 and 95 years old,” said one man, Giovanni Debonis, who has lived in the area all his life. “They’re telling us to evacuate [but] they’re not letting us up…it doesn’t make sense. We’re stuck.”
An evacuation shelter for residents who choose to evacuate has been set up at the Jesse Turner Health and Fitness Community Center in Fontana.
The Bridge Fire is the smallest of three large active wildfires burning in the Los Angeles metro area; the Line Fire, which started Thursday in San Bernardino County, exploded to 26,000 acres by Tuesday morning, and the Airport Fire in Orange County scorched 8,500 acres in less than 24 hours after it was first reported Monday afternoon.
What started the Bridge Fire — and the other two — remains under investigation.