Prescribed burns and other measures to build and maintain a fire barrier around Angelus Oaks were instrumental in keeping the explosive, 44,000-acre Line Fire from devastating the San Bernardino County mountain community, authorities said.
For 20 years, and as recently as in May, firefighters have carried out regular efforts to sustain a “fuel break” surrounding and protecting the community from the ever-looming threat of wildfires, according to U.S. Forest Service officials.
“Most recently, just five months before the Line Fire, the Mill Creek Hotshots and other crews from the San Bernardino National Forest conducted a broadcast burn on over 200 acres around the Angelus Oaks community,” the agency said in a written statement . “Thanks to these efforts, the Line Fire never crossed any of the fuel breaks.”
Since 2004, the Mill Creek Hotshots and other fire crews have made regular visits to Angelus Oaks to thinned, prune, pile and burn excess fuels, according to San Bernardino National Forest Fuels Officer Bryan Vergne.