Evacuation orders are lifted as firefighters battle 900-acre blaze near Highland
A wildfire raced up a steep canyon in the San Bernardino Mountains on Tuesday and its flames came within feet of igniting a suburban hillside neighborhood, triggering evacuations, but firefighters stopped its advance with air power and ground crews.
The so-called Mart fire started about 3:15 p.m. near a Wal-Mart at Highland Avenue and Highway 330, a popular thoroughfare that leads to Big Bear. As of Tuesday night the fire had spread to 902 acres in the hills north of Highland and was 0% contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
More than 550 firefighters and emergency personnel were assigned to the blaze, and were working amid 5 mph wind and temperatures in the mid-90s.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The hillside neighborhood of East Highland was evacuated as a DC-10 air tanker dumped red flame retardant around the edges of the suburb.
Flames ignited bushes and trees along a trail next to Paul Christin’s home at the top of the neighborhood with commanding views of the Inland Empire.
Christin, a 51-year-old retired firefighter, watched as crews held back the blaze.
The flames eventually moved farther up the hill and crews were marching by Christin’s home to dig fire lines as the sun fell. Soon after, the evacuation order was lifted and residents were allowed to return home.
Earlier in the afternoon, when the fire was still raging, evacuated residents sat on a curb, watched the airborne firefight, and waited to see what would become of their homes.
This is the third fire since Russell Keenan and Anne Viricel moved to Highland 10 years ago, although it was the first time they had to evacuate.
Viricel was trying to maintain some optimism: “If it doesn’t take us down we will have a good ring around our home for safety.”
Meanwhile, Keenan took photos of the unfolding scene.
Nearby Edwin Timple, 70, bounced his grandson on his knee and told him to look out for the aircraft: “He is fascinated with machines.”
Timple and his wife, Lettie, rushed to grab important documents as the fire approached, but they left behind her portable oxygen machine.
Lettie Timple sat down on the curb while her daughter’s fiancé, Tony Gonzales, persuaded a police officer to drive him up the hill to retrieve the machine.
A few minutes later, Gonzales returned in a Riverside County deputy’s SUV with the machine. She sat down and hooked up a pipe to her nose.
Twitter: @jpanzar
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