chance of more thunderstorms had fire officials hoping for substantial rain to soak the flames rather than “dry” lightning that could ignite more conflagrations in the San Bernardino Mountains.
“We'll get substantial rain. Whether it will be helpful or harmful will be determined by how you look at it,” said Robert Balfour, a National Weather Service senior forecaster assigned to the fires.
There was a 40 percent chance of rain in the area Monday, and a 60 percent chance of heavy rain, with the possibility of flash flooding in scorched canyonlands later in the week, Balfour said.
“We have a concern that the rain might come too fast, and if it does, that's another safety threat for the firefighters as well as the public,” Balfour said.
On Sunday night, “lighting forced crews off high ground in the middle of the night, then rain soaked exposed hand crews,” said Dan Dresselhaus of the California Department of Forestry, reading a morning update.
But the high humidity allowed firefighters to make progress on the 61,700-acre Sawtooth Fire. The blaze, ignited by lightning on July 9, was 70 percent contained and some crews in southern areas were being sent home.
An 800-acre portion of the complex, dubbed the Heart Fire, was burning northwest in the direction of thousands of homes in the mountain resort of Big Bear about eight miles away but officials said there was no immediate danger the flames would reach it.
Rainbow, a town of about 100 homes, was only a few miles away from the fire front and considered threatened but no evacuations were called, said Robert Brady of the U.S. Forest Service.
The moist air decreased the intensity of the fires, making way for what officials called a major ground attack on the adjacent Millard Fire, which threatened about 75 homes in the Mission Creek and Whitewater Canyon areas.
The Millard, which merged with the Sawtooth last week, was burning both in low-elevation brush and on rocky San Bernardino National Forest ridges dotted with pine trees killed by drought and a bark beetle infestation. It had grown to more than 22,103 acres by Monday and was 26 percent contained.
The conditions allowed helicopters loaded with crews to land near the fire lines after firefighters with chain saws rappelled in and cut places to land. Two dozen helicopters and 15 airplanes were working the fire.
“It was just too dangerous to go in there before,” said B.P. Fennessey, air operations branch director for the Millard Fire.
Forestry officials also employed a modified DC-10 on the Sawtooth Fire – the first time a jet aircraft has ever been used for firefighting. The jumbo jet can carry 12,000 gallons of fire retardant.
Firefighters had been having a hard time reaching remote, rugged pockets in both fires. They were forced to rely on helicopters to drop in suppression teams instead of using bulldozers and other heavy equipment.
Once on the ground, firefighters faced rocky terrain and sheer cliffs.
“It's steeper than a cow's face,” said Tony Duprey, an air tactical group supervisor who has flown helicopter reconnaissance.
Since starting, the Sawtooth has destroyed 58 houses and mobile homes, dozens of outbuildings and scores of vehicles.
Fire officials estimated damage from the fire at more than $8.4 million and firefighting costs at $11.7 million.
At least 11 people, including firefighters, have been injured. On Saturday, a search team found the body of a man who had been missing since the Sawtooth fire burned through historic Pioneertown on Tuesday. The cause of the man's death remained under investigation but sheriff's officials said it appeared to be fire-related.
Elsewhere in Southern California, a wildfire in a rural area six miles east of Lake Arrowhead was 50 percent contained. The fire, sparked by lightning Sunday afternoon, burned about 10 acres in the Crab Flats area, Dresselhaus said.
