Wildfire — San Bernardino County Mountains, California

2024-09-05 to 2024-09-30 · San Bernardino County Mountains, California

Event narrative

The Line fire began at 930 am September 5, 2024 at Baseline and Aplin Streets near Highland California. High temperatures on September 5 were 107 to 112F where the fire began. The fire burned north into the Santa Ana drainage due to upslope wind flow. The wildfire grew to 36,000 acres over the next 2 weeks and was finally contained at 44,000 acres in early October. The fire was difficult to contain due to the activity in the remote and thick Bear Creek drainage. The wildfire burned a 98 year old Lookout tower on Keller Peak. The wildfire did severe damage to SR 330 including miles of guardrails and signs which was closed for repairs until November 24, 2024. The fire was contained at the ridge line at Snow Valley to Bear Mountain along SR 18. Arson was determined to be the cause of the fire. The wildfire destroyed 5 structures in Running Springs and injured 4 firefighters. Estimated costs were 14.5 million. The Fire Management Assistance Grant (FMAG) was approved. Air quality index reached 1500 in Big Bear City causing the hospital to close and transport patients. The wildfire experienced a large flare up in Bear Creek on September 29th and burned an additional several thousand acres.

Wider weather episode

Following and during a record heat wave, 3 large wildfires erupted and became out of control burning rapidly. The Airport fire started in Trabuco Canyon in Orange County on the south portion of the Santa Ana mountains. The Bridge fire started in the San Gabriel mountains and spread into Wrightwood and Mt Baldy. The Line fire started in Highland and burned for weeks up the Santa Ana River drainage of the San Bernardino mountains. The wildfires were between 23,0000 and 55,000 acres and caused millions of dollars of damage and expenses to fight.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1218710. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.