Wildfire evacuation orders around Cajon Pass lifted; blaze 85 percent contained

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, Calif. – Five days after an explosive wildfire in Southern California drove thousands from their homes, authorities lifted all evacuation orders Sunday to allow them to return.

About 82,000 people were ordered to leave their properties Tuesday when the fire broke out 60 miles east of Los Angeles. A preliminary damage assessment found 105 homes and 216 outbuildings destroyed across the rural, mountainous terrain where large swaths of open land have been turned black.

The wildfire offers an important lesson for residents of states in the West, officials say.

“I think the message for folks to take away, the learning point for this area, is that when someone tells you that you need to evacuate you need to do so,” said Travis Mason, spokesman for San Bernardino National Forest.

Since Tuesday morning, the Blue Cut Fire has burned more than 37,000 acres of the Cajon Pass in Southern California. Its behavior was “explosive” and “unprecedented,” Mason said.

But despite mandatory evacuation orders being delivered to at least 10 communities by telephone, loudspeaker and door-to-door, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office reports only 40 percent of households complied.

Some residents’ decisions to stay home put a strain on firefighting resources when flames advanced on occupied homes.

Those who waited until the last minute to leave often requested assistance from first responders to escape peril.

“They have to stop what they’re doing and attempt to take care of the person who called 911,” sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller said.

Those residents’ cars also hinder “first responders’ ability to get where they need to go in a timely manner because there are other people on the roadway,” Miller added.

In other areas, residents had only five or 10 minutes to evacuate after receiving a warning because the Blue Cut Fire was moving so fast.

With wildfire season underway in the West, Mason said people should be prepared to leave home in a hurry if a wildfire is burning nearby. He suggested keeping medications, important documents and other valued items ready to go.

“You need to have a mental list or checklist on the refrigerator,” he said. “If you have five minutes that’s not the time to start thinking about what you need to take. You need to know that stuff beforehand.”

The once-fast moving and erratic blaze that burned nearly 58 square miles was 85 percent contained as of Sunday evening. Firefighters were going property-to-property in the areas most heavily hit to quell any lingering flames and hot spots.

“You don’t want somebody to come back to a neighborhood where a fire could suddenly flare up on the property next door from something still smoldering,” fire spokesman Costa Dillon said.

A prolonged drought has transformed swaths of California into tinderboxes, ready to ignite. Six other wildfires were burning in the state, including one in San Luis Obispo County that forced the closure of the historic Hearst Castle on Saturday. It remained closed Sunday.

That fire has destroyed 34 homes and burned 43 square miles since it began Aug. 13. It remained 35 percent contained. Fire spokeswoman Jaime Garrett said the fire was growing in the opposite direction of the Hearst Castle. The castle is a popular tourist attraction and houses a large art collection that belonged to media magnate William Randolph Hearst.

In rural Santa Barbara County, a 33-square-mile wildfire that forced the evacuation of two campgrounds was 20 percent contained.

In the southern Sierra Nevada, another blaze feeding on dense timber in Sequoia National Forest forced the evacuation of several tiny hamlets.

In Northern California, fire crews were gaining control Sunday on an arson fire that destroyed 189 homes. Officials said the 6-square-mile fire in Lower Lake was 95 percent contained.

A nearly monthlong blaze burning near California’s scene Big Sur is not expected to be fully contained until the end of September. The fire has destroyed 57 homes and charred 133 square miles, state fire officials said. It is 60 percent contained.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Contact Michael Scott Davidson at sdavidson@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3861. Find @davidsonlvrj on Twitter.