Wind-Driven Fire Threatens College, Homes

An erratic, wind-whipped blaze sparked by downed power lines forced the evacuation of Cal State San Bernardino and burned perilously close to homes Monday before it was extinguished by firefighters, authorities reported.

The fire, which scorched 125 acres of brush in foothills along the northern edges of San Bernardino, was one of three that burned Monday in the Inland Empire.

In Chino Hills, a 110-acre brush fire near a former munitions plant was contained four hours after it erupted Monday morning. About 100 firefighters, aided by four water-dropping helicopters and two Super Scoopers, fought that blaze, which caused no structural damage or injuries.

And a brush fire in rough terrain near Cabazon was contained Monday after burning about 660 acres since Saturday evening. More than 500 firefighters were assigned to the Cabazon blaze, which caused no damage to structures.

The causes of the Cabazon and Chino Hills fires were under investigation.

The San Bernardino blaze was blamed on arcing power lines downed by winds that gusted up to 50 m.p.h. in the foothills beneath the Cajon Pass, said Tom Rubio, a spokesman for the San Bernardino City Fire Department.

The high winds forced the recall of a firefighting airplane after the aircraft had made just two fire-retardant drops on the blaze, but a pair of water-dropping helicopters finished the job along with 100 firefighters, Rubio said.

The fire skirted the northern edges of Cal State San Bernardino, forcing about 6,000 students, faculty and staff to go home midmorning because of the smoke, said campus spokeswoman Cindy Pringle.

The fire continued to spread toward a nearby residential neighborhood, but firefighters--and shifting winds--stopped its advance, Rubio said. Flames came within several hundred feet of some homes.

One firefighter was treated and released for an eye injury, Rubio said.