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Line Fire explodes in size in San Bernardino County, evacuations ordered
The massive Line Fire exploded to more than 7,100 acres Saturday in Southern California’s San Bernardino County, as over 500 homes in the city of Highland faced mandatory evacuation orders.
About 500 firefighters battled the flames as the wildfire nearly doubled in size within hours and remained at zero containment, according to the San Bernardino National Forest. Early Saturday afternoon, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department announced a mandatory evacuation order for homes near the growing blaze.
Paired with the sweltering heat currently roasting the region, weather officials say that the smoke from the fire has created clouds similar to those that come with thunderstorms, prompting reports of over 3,000 lightning strikes in the area.
On top of this, the small fire-created storm system can also increase winds in the immediate area, which have fanned the flames as it continues to spread and create challenges for firefighters.
The wildfire first sparked along Baseline Road around 6 p.m. on Thursday and tore through several hundred more acres before exploding over Friday night and surpassing 3,000 acres. The blaze has been burning near Highland, and on Friday, some residents said they could see it from their homes.
LR Johnson and Braga Family
“The flames were right up on us because the wind shifted,” said Brian Gano, who lives in Highland. He was trying to hose down the flames alongside his wife and son. “I got a high-pressure line in my backyard.”
The skies above San Bernardino County lit up in a glowing orange hue as bright red flames could be seen tearing through the shrubbery. Firefighters flew through thick, billowing plumes of smoke to make fire retardant drops, working against the blaze from the air and ground.
They had managed to keep the flames within the San Bernardino National Forest but winds started to sweep them towards homes.
“We had an aggressive firefight on our hands to protect those homes,” said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Brent Pascua.
Meanwhile, over Friday, people living in the area waited to hear whether they would have to evacuate. Diya Hirpara, one of those residents, said at the time that she was buying groceries as she tried to prepare.
“It was pretty scary,” Hirpara said. “We’re just kind of on the edge, just waiting.”
Inland News
Evacuation warnings have been in place for the past two days but authorities issued a mandatory order telling residents to flee immediately for the first time on Saturday. It is in effect for an area stretching from Calle Del Rio to Highway 38, including Greenspot Road North.
A total of 506 homes in that area alone are affected, according to San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Mara Rodriguez.
Later, sheriff’s officials announced more evacuations just before noon, with an order in effect for all undeveloped land east of Highway 330 to Summertrail Place and north of Highland Avenue.
“This is an order by law enforcement to leave immediately,” Cal Fire officials said, describing the fire as “an immediate threat to life.”
Additional evacuation orders were announced at around 4:30 p.m. on Saturday as the fire continued to progress. Those living near Highways 330 and 18 were told to leave their homes immediately after the flames jumped the road.
Just before 7 p.m., even more evacuation orders were issued by San Bernardino Police Department in a chunk of homes both north and east of Highland Avenue and Palm Avenue.
Shortly afterwards, the orders were extended to the entire communities of Running Springs and Arrow Bear Lake, as well as the area east of Orchard Road to Cloverhill from Highland Ave north to the foothills, SBSD deputies said.
An evacuation shelter has been set up at Immanuel Baptist Church, located at 28355 Baseline Street in Highland.
An additional shelter was opened at the San Bernardino County Fairgrounds in Building Six, firefighters said. The center is located at 14800 7th Street in Victorville.
The American Red Cross is also assisting those who have been displaced, offering shelter, water and other resources.
In the midst of the chaos, with thousands of people attempting to leave their homes due to the evacuation orders, a small earthquake rattled the area, according to the United States Geological Survey.
On Friday, air quality regulators issued a smoke advisory to warn people about poor, harmful conditions as smoke from the Line Fire is carried by winds into surrounding areas. The air quality is considered “unhealthy for sensitive groups” to “very unhealthy,” a category that indicates everyone — including people without any health conditions — may experience harmful side effects.
As the fire continued to rage, Los Angeles Fire Department dispatched a team of more than 20 firefighters and three engines to assist the crews already on hand battling the blaze.
Late Saturday, San Bernardino County officials issued a proclamation of emergency.
“The proclamation formally orders all San Bernardino County departments and agencies to take actions deemed necessary to assure the safety and welfare of county residents and property, including requesting mutual aid as needed,” officials said in a statement. “The proclamation also clears the path for state and perhaps federal disaster proclamations should the incident require a response beyond the means of county and other local agencies.”
According to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, winds were blowing smoke from the wildfire west toward the cities of Highland and San Bernardino, with people in those areas expected to feel the impacts on Friday and Saturday.
A map showing the latest smoke and air quality conditions can be found here.
As for road closures, authorities said Baseline Road is shut down from Fairwood to Brockwood for firefighting operations. “All residents can get to and from the area but must follow the detour instructions,” authorities said in an update Saturday.
Aurantia Park in Highland is also closed to the general public.
A full list of the latest evacuation orders, road closures and other information for those affected can be found here.
TRENTON, N.J. — Democratic Newark City Council President LaMonica McIver has defeated Republican small businessman Carmen Bucco in a contest in New Jersey’s 10th Congressional District that opened up because of the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr. in April.
McIver will serve out the remainder of Payne’s term, which ends in January. She and Bucco will face a rematch on the November ballot for the full term.
McIver said in a statement Wednesday that she stands on the “shoulders of giants,” naming Payne as chief among them.
She cast ahead to the November election, saying the right to make reproductive health choices was on the ballot as well as whether the economy should benefit the wealthy or “hard working Americans.”
“I will fight because the purpose of politics and the purpose of our vote is to give the people of our communities and our nation a bold voice,” she said.
Bucco congratulated McIver on the victory in a statement but said he’s looking forward to the rematch in November.
“I am not going anywhere,” he said in an email. “We still have a second chance to make district 10 great again!”
Who are LaMonica McIver and Carmen Bucco?
McIver emerged as the Democratic candidate in a crowded field in the July special election. A member of the city council of New Jersey’s biggest city since 2018, she also worked for Montclair Public Schools as a personnel director and plans to focus on affordability, infrastructure, abortion rights and “protecting our democracy,” she told The Associated Press earlier this summer.
Bucco describes himself on his campaign website as a small-business owner influenced by his upbringing in the foster system. He lists support for law enforcement and ending corruption as top issues.
The 10th District lies in a heavily Democratic and majority-Black region of northern New Jersey. Republicans are outnumbered by more than 6 to 1.
It’s been a volatile year for Democrats in New Jersey, where the party dominates state government and the congressional delegation.
Among the developments were the conviction on federal bribery charges of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, who has denied the charges, and the demise of the so-called county party line — a system in which local political leaders give their preferred candidates favorable position on the primary ballot.
Democratic Rep. Andy Kim, who’s running for Menendez’s seat, and other Democrats brought a federal lawsuit challenging the practice as part of his campaign to oust Menendez, who has resigned since his conviction.
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Sean “Diddy” Combs at same Brooklyn detention center that held R. Kelly, Sam Bankman-Fried, other high-profile inmates
A second judge refused to grant bail to Sean “Diddy” Combs on Wednesday and he could remain in federal custody at a Brooklyn detention center until his trial for sex trafficking charges. Combs joins other high-profile inmates, such as singer R. Kelly, fallen cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, rapper Ja Rule —even Al Sharpton served a brief stint— who were held at the same federal detention center.
Notorious for its horrible conditions —inmates won a $10 million class action settlement after enduring frigid conditions during an 8-day blackout in 2019— the waterfront industrial complex, MDC Brooklyn, houses 1,200 inmates.
JOHANNES EISELE/AFP via Getty Images
Violence and corruption have long plagued the facility; U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown of the Eastern District of New York wrote the detention center had “dangerous, barbaric conditions” in a recent sentencing opinion. Two inmates were stabbed to death in recent months and several correction officers have been convicted for smuggling contraband and accepting bribes.
Combs joins a list of high-profile personalities that have landed at the MDC Brooklyn, partly because the city’s other federal detention center, MDC New York, closed in 2021, also due to horrible conditions. The disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide in his cell there in 2019. “Numerous and serious” instances of misconduct among corrections staff gave Epstein the opportunity to kill himself, a subsequent federal watchdog investigation found.
Kelly sued the federal detention center in 2022 for wrongly putting him on suicide watch after his sentencing. Kelly sought $100 million because he said the detention center knew he wasn’t suicidal after he was convicted in 2021 for racketeering and violating the Mann Act, which bars transporting people across state lines for prostitution.
Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Former crypto billionaire Bankman-Fried survived on bread, water and sometimes peanut butter when he was in the MDC Brooklyn, his attorney said, because the detention center continued to serve him a “flesh diet” despite requests for vegan dishes.
Ja Rule stayed at the MDC Brooklyn for a brief time before being released after serving most of his two-year sentence for illegal gun possession. Most of his prison time was spent in a state prison in New York.
Sharpton served a 90-day sentence in 2001 and went on a hunger strike for protesting the U.S. Navy bombing of the island of Vieques, in Puerto Rico.
Combs was taken into custody on Monday and according to an indictment unsealed Tuesday he was charged with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy and transportation to engage in prostitution.
His attorney Marc Agnifilo told CBS News, “It’s impossible to prepare for a trial from where he is,” after a first federal judge denied Combs bail on Tuesday.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Robyn Tarnofsky agreed with prosecutors who argued the hip-hop mogul, who is accused of using his business empire as a criminal enterprise to conceal his alleged abuse of women, is a flight risk and poses an ongoing threat to the safety of the community.
Agnifilo said the part of the detention center where Combs is being held is “a very difficult place to be.”
contributed to this report.
