by Mick Rhodes | editor@claremont-courier.com

The Bridge Fire continues to advance toward foothill cities, with residents in north Claremont around Fergus Falls and Mt. Baldy having been advised to prepare to evacuate.

The fire — now the largest blaze burning in the state of California at 47,904 acres as of 9:30 a.m. Wednesday — “continued to exhibit extreme fire behavior” overnight Tuesday, burning some 13,000 acres and impacting structures in Wrightwood, including damage to the power infrastructure there. Thus far it has destroyed 20 homes in the Mt. Baldy area, 13 in Wrightwood, and six cabins in the wilderness area. The fire is currently backing down the slopes near Mt. Baldy Road, threatening additional structures there.

At a 10:30 a.m. press conference on Wednesday, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department personnel reported one of its off-duty deputies and two Mt. Baldy residents were trapped in the Mt. Baldy Village, and a sheriff’s department Air Rescue 5 helicopter was currently working to hoist them to safety. The trio were reportedly safe at the time of the press conference, but were awaiting rescue.

California Air Agency Incident Management Team 5 Public Information Officer Lisa Cox had advice for those under evacuation warnings: “Make sure that you have a go bag ready with your very important essentials, prescriptions, important papers, anything like that,” Cox said. “Make sure your pets have a place to go.”

Pomona Fairplex has a shelter in place for evacuated people and animals at 601 W. McKinley Ave., Pomona, CA 91768. The entrance is at gate 3 at the corner of McKinley and White avenues.

“I want to say thank you to the people who have heeded all the evacuation orders and warnings,” Cox said. “Because people listen to those, our firefighters were able to actually get into those communities and do structure protection the way they need to do it.”

Cox also had this to say to those in the affected areas: “You don’t have to wait. If you’re feeling like it’s going to take you extra time to get up and leave and get packed to leave, then start now. If you feel unsafe, or the smoke is too much and you need to remove yourself from the situation, don’t hesitate to leave. You do not have to wait for the sheriff to evacuate you to leave.”

Upland residents in the San Antonio Heights area from the 210 freeway north are under evacuation warning.

“The good news is we’re expecting an increase in humidity this afternoon,” Cox said. “So that’s really going to aid firefighters in securing not only containment lines, but contingency lines around the southern and southwestern flanks of this fire.” Claremont is located south of the Bridge Fire’s southern flank.

There are currently 480 fire and 70 LA County Sheriff’s personnel working on the Bridge Fire. There have been no injuries to residents, firefighters or police reported thus far.

LA County Fire personnel talk strategy Wednesday morning at the Claremont Hills Wilderness Park parking lot, as several engines sit ready to be deployed to the Bridge Fire. Photo/by Megan Mueller

The fire grew mainly on the north and east flanks overnight Tuesday. “The top priority for firefighters remained in structure protection and defense within the communities of Wrightwood, Pinon Hills and Mount Baldy,” according to a Wednesday morning web update from U.S. Forest Service Angeles National Forest officials. “Once it is safe for damage assessment teams to evaluate, confirmed numbers will be released. Mountain High West and East Ski Resort were also affected by fire activity.”

The south end of the Bridge Fire jumped Glendora Ridge Road up to Sunset Peak, which was highly visible Tuesday evening from Claremont and surrounding foothill cities.

“Despite the extreme fire behavior, lack of resources, and challenges firefighters had, they successfully defended homes, and no communication towers went down,” according to the USFS Angeles National Forest Wednesday morning update. “Firefighters held the lines they had west of Mount Baldy Road, and they continued to prioritize securing contingency lines to the south. By the public heeding evacuations, firefighters were able to get in and engage in the structure defense they needed to.

“As the fire continues to head into receptive fuels with little to no fire history, it could get established into drainages and have slope alignment, leading to the potential for large energy release that could create plume-driven fire behavior and column collapses which may send spot fires out ahead of the fire’s direction.”

Evacuation orders remain in effect for Mt. Baldy Road, all residents north of the San Antonio Dam up to the Mt. Baldy Resort; the entire community of Wrightwood; Pinion Hills from Wrightwood north to Highway 18 and Beekley Road west to LA County; Pinion Hills from Wrightwood north to Highway 138 and Lebec Road west to LA County; Lone Pine Canyon from Wrightwood to Hwy 138/Lone Pine Canyon Road south to the forest; and the East Fork communities of Camp Williams Resort and River Community.

For the latest updates on the fire, go to inciweb.wildfire.gov/incident-information/caanf-bridge-fire. Additional information, including some dramatic video, is posted on the Angeles National Forest Facebook page at facebook.com/angelesnationalforest.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.