Big Bear Area Community Fire Meeting Tonight At 6 PM
Breaking News
By RIMOFTHEWORLD.net
Thursday, July 13, 2006
The National Forest Unified Incident Command will hold a community meeting to discuss the fire status. The meeting will be at the Big Bear Lake Convention Center at 42900 Big Bear Boulevard, Big Bear Lake at 6 PM. Officials from the San Bernardino National Forest, the California Department of Forestry, and the San Bernardino County Fire Department will be present.
The fires have continued to chew through vegetation with 100 foot tall flames and movement rates of up to a mile per hour. Spotting is occurring up to 2,000 feet from the main fire. The fires are countinuing to burn northward and eastward. Structure protection teams are in place poised to protect homes and businesses if the fire approaches.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department and the San Bernardino County Fire Department are notifying residents of the Erwin Lake, Lake Williams, and Onyx Summit areas that an evacuation may be ordered if the fire continues to approach. At this point, no residential evacutions have been ordered.
The fire is expected to reach Highway 38 today, according to air operations chatter. Fire officials are clearing additional brush along fire roads in the Onyx Summit area. Three air tankers are performing retardant drops on the Onxy Summit communication towers. Big Bear Valley firefighters have been activated and are peparing to assist with structure protection along Rainbow Lane in Onyx Summit. An evacuation center for affected areas of the Onyx Summit area is being established at the Big Bear Elementary School at 409040 Pennsylvania, Big Bear Lake, CA. No evacuation orders have been made, at this time.
The western flank, or "Branch 2", of the Sawtooth Fire is about 3/4 of a mile east of homes in the Onyx Summit area. CDF Fire Prevention Specialist Karen Guillemin told the Associated Press this morning that if a fire did make it into the bark beetle and drought ravaged trees, "it will be almost impossible to stop."
The Sawtooth Complex Fire is now 20% contained, according to fire officials. Most of the containment is along the north side near Old Woman Springs Road. Air Attack has resumed this morning with a full air assault of nearly twenty aircraft attacking the fire today.
With the western edge of the fire less than a mile from the outlying homes near Onyx Summit, Big Bear and San Gorgonio area residents are urged to start thinking about what they may need if they're asked to evacuate. So far, however, only three children's camps have been evacuated.
Big Bear Fire Department personnel have been strategizing how to fight a fire at Onyx Summit and protect the few dozen homes there and the Predators In Action compound with its large cats, bears, and other exotic animals. Fire crews from the California Department of Forestry cleared brush and other hazards from around properties in the area, hoping to help with structure protection efforts, should they be needed.
The front of the Sawtooth Complex Fire was about three miles east of Highway 38. It's progress slowed overnight. The newly expanding Millard Complex Fire was burning northward toward the Onyx Summit area. It was burning about five to seven miles south of Highway 38 as of Wednesday evening.
The slight chance of thunderstorms for the remainder of the week could provide a mixed blessing. Winds from the storms could fan the flames further and additional lightning strikes could lead to more fires with fewer resources to attack them. However, higher humidity and the possibility of rain and cloud cover could slow the progress of the existing fires.
