Wind and Heat Fan Wildfires in 2 Forest Zones

Southern California firefighters battled two wildfires Monday, a 4,000-acre blaze in the San Bernardino National Forest near Palm Springs and another threatening several homes in the Angeles National Forest near Lake Hughes.

A late-evening change in wind direction stoked the Los Angeles County blaze. Within three hours it grew from 300 to 2,000 acres, said county Fire Department spokesman Mike McCormick.

“It’s going to be a handful tonight,” he said.

Firefighters battling the flames near Palm Springs also lost ground, with temperatures of more than 100 degrees and late-afternoon desert winds.

That fire was only 25% contained Monday evening.

Rick Griggs, a spokesman for the Riverside County Fire Department, described the fire as changing “minute by minute.”

It was burning in the remote Snow Creek area of the national forest, and flames jumped into Palm Springs city limits but still far from any structures.

The heat, winds and mountainous terrain made it difficult for firefighters to control the blaze, he said. As evening set in, the flames began to slow. Throughout the day, the number of firefighters in the region grew from about 330 to about 1,000.

The blaze was reported at 3 p.m. Sunday near Interstate 10 and sparked evacuation of Snow Creek Village.

The evacuation ended at midnight after the flames died down and headed the opposite direction.

There were no reports of structural damage, and firefighters were still investigating the cause.

In Los Angeles County, the so-called Pine fire, between Santa Clarita and the Kern County line, which began just before 1 p.m., also was driven by 100-degree heat and winds up to 23 mph.

About 400 firefighters from the county Fire Department and several other agencies had the fire 20% contained Monday evening.

Authorities also deployed eight aircraft and four bulldozers, McCormick said.

The fire threatened about eight scattered homes and several structures of a hunting club in the rugged terrain about four miles east of Quail Lake, fire officials said.

Authorities evacuated those homes and closed Pine Canyon Road between Ridge Route and Three Points roads, McCormick said.

No estimated time for containment was made.

About 8 p.m., the fire changed direction, from northeast to southeast, and began consuming thick forest that “hadn’t burned in 75 years,” McCormick said.

The cause of the fire was under investigation.

Also Monday, a small blaze near the Los Angeles Zoo burned 4 acres of brush and grass and forced evacuation of a Boy Scout camp in Griffith Park before being extinguished.

About 90 scouts and 15 adults had been camping in the park.

The fire was reported at 4:32 p.m. and put out a little more than an hour later, said Jim Wells, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.

The cause of that fire was also under investigation.