As two of the three wildfires burning since last month in Southern California near full containment, the Line Fire in San Bernardino County flared up last weekend and on Friday was 79% contained.
The Line Fire has burned 43,925 acres, and on Sunday it suddenly threatened Seven Oaks, Angelus Oaks and the Big Bear Valley. The fire began Sept. 5 near Baseline and Alpine streets in Highland and at that point had burned 39,299 acres and was 83% contained when the blaze reached newly dried brush that served as fuel, according to county officials. The Line Fire gained ground in the Bear Creek drainage area and burned an additional 1,000 acres in 24 hours.
By Wednesday morning, the burned area grew 43,890 acres containment reduced to 79%.
The San Bernardino County Fire Department rejoined the unified firefighting command that consists of Complex California Incident Management Team 11, the San Bernardino National Forest and Cal Fire San Bernardino.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department issued evacuation orders for Seven Oaks and Angelus Oaks and evacuation warnings for the Boulder Bay area of Big Bear, from the dam east to Wildrose Lane, and the entire community of Big Bear Lake.