Water-dropping aircraft to hit wildfire above Rancho Cucamonga

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Hot shot crews traverse the burned terrain while looking for smoldering embers on the second day of the Etiwanda fire in Rancho Cucamonga. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Firefighters watch the progress of the Etiwanda fire as unpredictable winds feed flames over hundreds of acres. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)

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Firefighters cover their faces as smoke from the Etiwanda fire burns in the area along Banyan Street in Rancho Cucamonga. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A brush fire burns near some homes along Indian Wells Place in Rancho Cucamonga. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Residents evacuate on Macon Drive in Rancho Cucamonga as a wind-driven wildfire burns in the Day Canyon area. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Fire crews battle a brush fire at the front of the Etiwanda fire in Rancho Cucamonga. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Jeannine McClendon takes photos of smoke billowing from the Etiwanda fire as she prepares to evacuate from her home in Rancho Cucamonga. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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Brian Vanstone of Riverside tries to keep his balance along a stucco wall as the Etiwanda fire burns close in Rancho Cucamonga. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy races from home to home to evacuate residents on Macon Drive in Rancho Cucamonga. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Smoke from the Etiwanda fire billows behind homes along Scarlet Way in Rancho Cucamonga. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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John Martinez carries his belongings in a garbage bag as he prepares to leave his home on Macon Drive in Rancho Cucamonga. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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A firefighter walks along Macon Drive in Rancho Cucamonga as smoke from a brush fire obscures homes and limits visibility. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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A wildfire burns across a field of brush in the Etiwanda Preserve in Rancho Cucamonga. (Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times)

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A San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputy patrols a roadblock as the Etiwanda fire burns along Banyan Street. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

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Smoke rises from a brush fire burning in the San Bernardino National Forest as seen from the parking lot of Chaffey College in Rancho Cucamonga. (Patrice L. Roe / Los Angeles Times)

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People watch the fast-moving Etiwanda fire in the San Bernardino National Forest from Haven Avenue in Rancho Cucamonga. (Patrice L. Roe / Los Angeles Times)

By Joseph Serna

May 2, 2014 6:33 AM PT

Improving weather conditions are expected to allow officials to deploy water-dropping aircraft Friday to a wildfire burning in the San Bernardino National Forest near Rancho Cucamonga, building on the momentum they gained against the blaze a day earlier.

Water-dropping helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft have been grounded by powerful Santa Ana winds and gusts of more than 80 mph. But conditions are expected to be calmer Friday, with winds staying below 20 mph, said Lisa Stall of the National Weather Service.

“It won’t be nearly as bad as it has been the last couple of days,” she said.

The wind is also expected to shift Friday and head onshore, pushing smoke and ash away from residents, Stall said.

Given the shift in weather, Carol Underhill of the U.S. Forest Service said in a statement that officials anticipated deploying the water-dropping aircraft Friday morning.

The Etiwanda fire was 53% contained Thursday night as firefighters on the ground were working to cut containment lines with hand crews and bulldozers, officials said. The blaze, which was burning in the foothills away from residential areas, had scorched about 1,627 acres.

Three firefighters have suffered minor injuries and one home has been damaged. More than 900 firefighters have been sent to fight the blaze.

The heat wave that has been baking the region was expected to give way to a cooling trend over the weekend, with temperatures easing back into the 70s at the beaches and low-80s inland, according to the weather service.

joseph.serna@latimes.com

Twitter: @josephserna

Water-dropping aircraft to hit wildfire above Rancho Cucamonga

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