It tore through canyons and flew over ridges in every direction with astonishing speed, sending flames 80 feet skyward and forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes.
The Southern California wildfire that began as a small midmorning patch of flame next to Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass had by Tuesday’s end turned into a 28-square-mile monster that had burned an untold number of homes.
“This moved so fast,” said Darren Dalton, 51, who along with his wife and son had to get out of his house in Wrightwood, a mountain town of 4,500 popular with skiers in winter. “It went from ‘have you heard there’s a fire?’ to ‘mandatory evacuation’ before you could take it all in. This is a tight little community up here. Always in rally mode. Suddenly it’s a ghost town.”
Hundreds of cars packed with residents, belongings and animals left the town. The air for miles around the blaze was filled with smoke. The sound of explosions — possibly from ammunition stored in homes — could be heard in the distance.
Shannon Anderson of Blue Mountain Farms horse ranch in Phelan had to load up and evacuate 40 horses as the fire approached. “It’s raining ash,” Anderson said, breathing hard.
They were among more than 82,000 people from over 34,000 homes were under evacuation orders, said Eric Sherwin of the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
Devouring ranchlands 60 miles east of Los Angeles, the blaze surged west to the Los Angeles County line and east to the Mojave Desert in the east. The damages were likely to be vast and serious once they could be properly measured.
Sherwin confirmed Tuesday night that it had burned at least a dozen buildings, some of them homes. He said he had seen all kinds of things burn, including the Summit Inn, a historic diner near I-15, he said.
“I’m looking up here and I’m seeing buses, I’m seeing outbuildings, I’m seeing houses,” he said.
It was among several large fires burning up and down California, from Shasta County in the far north to Camp Pendleton Marine base in San Diego County. It came after several steady weeks of major fires around the state, even though the full force of fire season has yet to arrive.
But even longtime observers were surprised by the staggering speed of the Southern California fire.
It prompted Gov. Jerry Brown to declare a state of emergency in the area within hours of it breaking out, a move that more often comes after a blaze has done several days of destruction.
The fire forced a shutdown of part of Interstate 15, leaving commuters and travelers stranded for hours.
Six firefighters were briefly trapped by flames at a home where the occupants had refused to leave, forcing the crew to protect the house, fire officials said.
“We were fully engulfed in smoke,” county firefighter Cody Anderson told KCBS-TV. “It was really hard just to see your hand in front of your face.”
“We just hunkered down and sat there and waited for the fire to blow over,” he said.
Anderson and another firefighter were treated for minor injuries.
As that fire surged, a major blaze north of San Francisco was fading, and about 4,000 people in the town of Clearlake were allowed to return home.
Their relief, however, was tempered with anger at a man who authorities believe set the blaze that wiped out several blocks of a small town over the weekend along with 16 smaller fires dating back to last summer.
Investigators in Northern California said Tuesday they had been building a case against the suspected arsonist, 40-year-old construction worker Damin Anthony Pashilk, for more than a year. But they did not have enough evidence to make an arrest until the weekend blaze ripped through Lower Lake.
The fire destroyed 175 homes and other structures in the working-class town of Lower Lake.
“What I’d do to him, you don’t want to know,” said Butch Cancilla, who saw his neighbor’s home catch fire as he fled on Sunday. Cancilla still doesn’t know the fate of his own home.
“A lot of people want to hang him high,” his wife, Jennie, added.
An attorney listed as representing Pashilk did not return a call requesting comment. Pashilk is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
THIS COMMENT IS DIRECTED TO THOSE LIBERALS WHO ARE INTENDED IN BRINGING REFUGEES TO OUR COUNTRY AND MAKING SURE THEY HAVE EVERYTHING READY TO MOVE IN: TO INCLUDE FOOD STAMPS, MEDICAID, SCHOOL SUPPLIES, A HOUSEHOLD FULL OF FURNITURE, FOOD IN THE REFRIGERATOR, ETC., ETC., WHILE THIS VICTIMS OF A MAJOR TRAGEDY ARE LEFT OUT AT THE MERCY OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES. THIS GOES AS WELL TO THE DISASTER IN LOUISIANA. WAKE UP AMERICA!!! CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME!!! WE MUST TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN BEFORE WE GO GIVING OUR RESOURCES TO OTHERS.
Patti, you are 100% correct, how ever the current administration doesn’t give a dam about the American people or what we want or need. I must be getting old and senile because I just cannot understand how anyone can vote for Clinton that women is total void of any redeeming factor and surely doesn’t give a dam about the American people.
Trump for President 2016……. Clinton for the highway
My prayers are with the people of CA. as they face these wildfires. It has to be a terrible experience to basically lose every thing to nature gone wild. It is a shame that six brave firemen had to put their life on the line to try and protect someone the refused to obey a mandatory evacuation order. Sorry folks but that was your decision to stay and you have no right to ask others to risk their lives trying to protect you. I was born and raised on the Gulf coast and in a close hurricane miss or hit there are always areas that quickly flood and become cut off. There are always people that refuse to leave but will surely call crying for someone to come get them when the water is lapping on table tops in their house.
In California about 4000 inmates work as firefighters. They earn about $2 per hour. Recently they have staffed 1 in 6 firefighting positions fighting fires in California. There are also a few inmate crews from Utah fighting fires in California. These inmates have to be close to their parole date (in Utah within 3 years) to be eligible for the program. No inmate is forced to be a firefighter. Many of these men (and a few women) see this as a chance to repay society for their crimes. Admittedly one suspect in an arson fire in California is a former prison firefighter. So maybe the prisons need to screen potential candidates better. But this doesn’t take away what the rest of these inmate firefighters have contributed this year. I’m writing this note for people who are unaware of the existence of these inmate firefighters.
Why is that piece of shite still among the living?