Janice R. Andrews
In Southern California, Running Springs is a beautiful mountain town tucked between two beautiful lake resorts. It is once again under attack—this time by a huge wildfire. People who lived through a rare winter blizzard are now in danger from the Line Fire, which is growing quickly. Many people, including Niko Rynard, head of the Running Springs Area Chamber of Commerce, have had to leave their homes because of this fire, which has already burned through 58 square miles (150 square kilometers). Rynard left his home over the weekend and is now living with friends. Other people are waiting for the danger to go away by cramming into expensive hotel rooms.
A Neighborhood Fighting Extremes
Running Springs has been through a lot of bad weather. A storm in early 2023 dumped feet of snow on the town, which people in the area called “Snowmageddon.” For days, the roads were closed, leaving the mountain hamlet alone. Now, not even a year later, the people who live there are dealing with a new disaster: flames.
“These kinds of things are just part of living here,” said Rynard, who moved here from the East Coast nine years ago. Long-time locals, he said, are used to the way that natural disasters in the area happen in cycles, with flames in the summer and heavy snowstorms in the winter.
The Line Fire is one of many fires that are destroying Southern California.
The Line Fire is one of three big wildfires that are currently burning in the mountains east of Los Angeles. Together, they have destroyed dozens of homes and forced thousands of people to leave their houses. California has had almost three times as many wildfires so far this year as it did all of 2023. This is a bad sign because the worst of the fire season is still to come.
Authorities say the fire is being fed by thick growth that grew after two consecutive wet winters. Those winters also brought heavy snowfall that broke tree branches, leaving a lot of “dead and down fuel” for the fire. Chief of the Operations Section at Cal Fire, Jed Gaines, said that the fire is very hard to control because of these conditions.
About 50 miles (80 kilometers) west of Running Springs, in the mountains, the town of Wrightwood is in danger from another fire. Twenty-thousand homes are now at risk because of these fires.
A quake makes things even worse.
In case the flames weren’t scary enough, Southern California was hit by a 4.7-magnitude earthquake early Thursday morning, making people even more nervous who had already been told to leave their homes.
Even though things are crazy, firemen have been making progress in putting out the fires. In the past few days, cooler weather has helped slow the fires’ spread, but the steep slopes and thick greenery still make things hard. There have been no reports of deaths, but at least 12 people, mostly firemen, have been taken to the hospital with injuries, most of which are caused by the heat.
Brave Rescues in the Flames
Firefighters have been working nonstop to save lives and homes, even if it puts them in great danger. Cal Fire Battalion Chief Mike Martinez drove his SUV dangerously close to the Airport Fire in Orange County flames to save a woman who was walking too close to the line of fire. The dramatic rescue was caught on video. Later, Martinez told reporters that in his almost 30-year job, he had never seen anything as strange as a normal person walking so close to a fire.
Suspect in Arson Arrested
The authorities are looking into what started the wildfires, and on Thursday, nine charges linked to setting fires were brought against a person they think started the Line Fire. Jason Anderson, the district attorney for San Bernardino County, said that the suspect’s car had been linked to three different starting spots.
Anderson said, “This is especially frustrating for a community that has already been through so much in the past few years.” He pointed out that Running Springs and its nearby towns have been hit by several big wildfires recently. The suspect is likely to be charged on Friday.
The damage is still not known how bad it is
Some of the damage these flames have done is still unknown, but here’s what we know so far:
- As of Thursday, only 5% of the Orange County Airport Fire had been controlled. It had burned more than 36 square miles (93 square kilometers). Heavy machine workers are said to have started the fire. Ten firemen and two locals have been hurt, and it’s been hard to put out the fire because the ground is steep and dry.
- More than 65,000 homes are in danger because of the Line Fire, which is threatening Running Springs and is only 18% controlled. There are three firemen hurt in the fire.
- The Bridge Fire, which is east of Los Angeles, has grown ten times bigger in just one day. It now covers 80 square miles (207 square kilometers) and has destroyed 33 homes and six houses. Ten thousand people had to leave their homes because of it. The fire’s cause is still unknown, and as of Thursday, it had not been controlled at all.
Hope for Northern Nevada’s Containment
In Nevada, close by, firefighters have been making progress against a different blaze near Reno. The Davis Fire, which caused 20,000 people to leave their homes, is now 37% controlled. Now that evacuation orders have been changed to alerts, most people can go back to their houses. People worked together to keep the fire inside the control lines, even though it looked like it might spread over the Sierra Mountains and into the Lake Tahoe Basin.
A Community on the Edge
People often call Running Springs the “gateway to the San Bernardino Mountains,” but it’s still dangerous. Fire extinguisher has been spread over the town, which is more than a mile high, to help put out the fire. People who live in the mountains, like San Bernardino County Supervisor Dawn Rowe, tell people to be careful and make plans for the uncertain nature of life there.
I agree that this place is beautiful, but Rowe said that life here has its problems. “Do your research if you’re thinking about moving to these areas,” I said.
As rescuers keep working, people in Running Springs are eagerly waiting to find out if their homes will be safe after yet another natural disaster.
