Yucca Valley, Calif. – Firefighters battling a massive blaze at the edge of the San Bernardino National Forest feared it could merge today with another and become even more difficult to control.
The 53,000-acre wildfire, which had destroyed more than 150 homes and buildings in Southern California’s high desert, was within a half-mile of an 8,300-acre fire in the national forest, authorities said at a morning briefing for firefighters. Together, they have charred the equivalent of more than 95 square miles – about twice the size of San Francisco.
“The fires are very close together … it’s likely that (merging of the fires) will occur today,” said Rick Vogt, a spokesman for the firefighting effort.
The result could be a large, unpredictable fire that could create its own weather patterns, said Glenn Barley, a spokesman with the California Department of Forestry. “It can make for strong, erratic winds,” he said.
The area between the blazes was mostly unpopulated, and a large firebreak had been built between the fire and the mountain resort communities of Big Bear Lake, officials said. But a combined blaze could create a dangerous situation for firefighters.
“You’ve got 100-foot-tall trees, and those are kind of like a torch,” said forest spokeswoman Robin Prince.
Firefighters in southern Montana, mostly east of Billings, were battling three major fires totaling roughly 150,000 acres, or more than 230 square miles. The estimate on the largest fire nearly tripled overnight, fire information officer Paula Rosenthal said.
More than 200 structures, more than 80 of them homes, were threatened by the fires, and another blaze near Ashland destroyed at least one house. Firefighters were close today to containing a wildfire that destroyed four buildings earlier this week.
The larger of the California fires was 20 percent contained but was burning through dense, dead brush in a desert canyon land that has not burned in decades, authorities said. The smaller fire, which was threatening about 75 homes, was burning brush and timber at higher elevations and was just 5 percent contained.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency in San Bernardino County on Thursday to provide immediate state aid to fire officials and set the stage for a federal disaster-funding request, said Eric Lamoureux, a state Emergency Services spokesman.
Dozens of homes in the Morongo Valley were ordered evacuated as flames crept down a hill a few miles away. Some residents stayed behind, their possessions in their cars, as they monitored the shifting wind.
“Are we nervous? Yes. Will we stay up tonight? Yes,” said Pam Bennett-Wallberg, whose 2 1/2-acre ranch serves as a refuge for African meerkats.
Swaths of Southern California forests have been weakened by drought and bark beetles. For years, workers have been cutting down dead trees near communities and roads to remove the potential fire hazard. Thousands of acres have been cleared but experts say it will take up to 20 years to remove all the dead wood.
The largest fire was ignited by lightning during the weekend and roared into an inferno Tuesday, racing through tiny, high-desert communities. Forty-five houses, 118 other buildings and 91 vehicles were destroyed in the movie Western community of Pioneertown and other towns near Yucca Valley.
Elsewhere, crews were working late Thursday to contain a wildfire near Abilene, Texas, that had scorched 500 acres, forced the evacuation of a dozen homes and threatened to burn about 50 large wind turbines. Lightning also sparked fires in Wyoming on Thursday, including one that burned about 3,000 acres just west of Devils Tower.
