Line Fire growing again in San Bernardino Mountains; evacuation orders in place

A weekend flare-up that ignited nearly a month after the Line Fire first began in San Bernardino County grew by hundreds of acres overnight and has some mountain communities under evacuation orders and warnings Tuesday.

An update from Cal Fire had the blaze scorching 44,046 acres as of 5 a.m. Tuesday. The Line Fire stood at 43,459 acres Monday afternoon.

Helicopters were already overhead Tuesday morning assisting firefighters on the ground as the intense flames pushed toward the neighborhoods of Angelus Oaks and Seven Oaks, which are both under mandatory evacuation orders.

“I thought we were in the clear. Just getting back from the first evacuation and now we have to pack up and go again, so it’s pretty crazy. It’s wild,” one resident said.

Several other areas are under evacuation warnings, including the Boulder Bay area of Big Bear and the communities of Big Bear Lake, including Moonridge, Sugarloaf and South Erwin Lake.

Shelters have been set up at Redlands East Valley High School at 31000 E. Colton Ave. in Redlands and the Apple Valley Conference Center at 14975 Dale Evans Pkwy. in Apple Valley.

Officials with Bear Valley Unified School District announced this evening that classes are canceled on Tuesday.

Helicopters were primarily monitoring where the flare-up began because of its difficult terrain.

“Where the fire came out and started burning was an area that we hadn’t been able to put control lines against, primarily because it’s a real inaccessible steep area … with the heat and a little bit of wind behind it, it pushed it into the flat area by the Santa Ana River,” U.S. Forest Service spokesperson Robert Poole said.

Cal Fire’s update showed the majority of the Line Fire remains under control, with containment estimated at 78%.

Officials believe the fire was intentionally set by 34-year-old Justin Wayne Halstenberg on Sept. 5 in Highland.  Halstenberg has been arrested and charged in the case.

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