Blaze Burns Out of Control in Mountains Near Hesperia

A brush fire that scorched more than 2,500 acres burned out of control Tuesday night in the San Bernardino Mountains, destroying a trailer, threatening homes and causing anxiety in Hesperia, about two miles to the west.

The blaze whipped through scrub oak and desert grasses east of the Cajon Pass as 572 firefighters defended isolated homes, and air tankers and helicopters made repeated runs low over the smoking landscape, dropping water and fire retardant.

“Fortunately, the winds have died down,” Karen McKinley, spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service, said late Tuesday night. “We’re looking a lot better than we did this afternoon. The fire isn’t pushing as hard. It doesn’t look like it’s going to hit Hesperia. We’ll have to see what happens in the morning when the wind picks up.”

Earlier in the day, residents evacuated ahead of the fire when the blaze threatened homes in Summit Valley near the top of Cajon Pass. But winds eventually pushed it around that community, said Bill Peters, spokesman for the California Department of Forestry.

The blaze, fueled by winds up to 20 mph, was reported about 2:15 p.m. The cause was not known.

For a while, firefighters were extremely concerned because the flames ignited a freight train, several cars of which contained hydrochloric acid.

“It could have been a real problem,” McKinley said, but none of the cars carrying acid caught fire.

Two smaller fires also kept firefighters busy Tuesday night. A 110-acre blaze was burning about 10 miles from Hesperia on the west side of I-15 in Lytle Creek Canyon. It began about 2 p.m. after a vehicle caught fire, authorities said.

“This fire is still going, but it, too, has has quieted down during the night,” said Ruth Wenstrom, a U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman.

A brush fire scorched about four acres in Diamond Bar on Tuesday night, threatening several homes. But within an hour it was almost completely contained, with no structures damaged.