Kid Campers Flee Fire in Mountains

As many as 1,000 counselors and children at summer camps in the San Bernardino Mountains were evacuated Tuesday as a wildfire that consumed more than 100 acres approached their cabins.

The U.S. Forest Service said that youths from 16 camps were shuttled down the mountains to Big Bear and Yucaipa high schools, where temporary shelters were set up.

Some campers and counselors went home.

The fire began about 3:15 p.m. near Barton Flats in the San Bernardino National Forest and burned to within one-fourth of a mile of one camp and within a mile of several others.

But no structures were involved and no injuries reported, and by late Tuesday the fire was 40% contained, authorities said.

“We are staffing up, ordering strike teams and air tankers, trying to get the upper hand on this one very quickly,” said Ruth Wenstrom, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Forest Service.

As firefighters were gearing up in San Bernardino, authorities said, more than 500 acres of grassland in the Orange County community of Yorba Linda were also being consumed by fast-moving flames that, at one point, came within 700 feet of several homes.

“We haven’t yet pinpointed a cause,” said Polly Bowen, a spokeswoman for the Orange County Fire Authority.

The fire began about 2 p.m. just as three boys were seen running from the scene at Little Canyon Lane and Fairmont Boulevard, where it was believed to have started.

“We would like to identify those juveniles,” Bowen said, “so that we can speak to them. Not because they are considered suspects, but because they may have information that would help.”

By 6:30 p.m. the fire was about 25% contained and moving northeast toward the San Bernardino County community of Chino Hills, though there were no evacuations. “I don’t feel that there are any structures threatened,” said Capt. Steven Miller, a Fire Authority spokesman.

Meanwhile, the San Bernardino Mountain fire -- in an area untouched by last October’s wildfires nearby -- singed more than 100 acres within its first three hours, prompting authorities to order the evacuations from campgrounds and personal cabins around Jenks Lake near Highway 38.

The evacuated campgrounds included the YMCA-run Camp Round Meadows and Camp Edwards, along with private camps including Camp Bravo, Camp Gilboa, Camp Norris, Camp Pine Mountain, Camp Mile High Pines, Camp Conrad-Chinnock, Camp LaVerne, Camp MorningStar and Camp Good News.

The U.S. Forest Service -- which had 25 fire engines, four air tankers, two helicopters and nine hand crews fighting the fire -- said that the evacuations were precautionary and that authorities hoped to return the children to their camps today.

“We’re waiting to see what the weather does tonight,” spokesman Gar Abbas said.

At the Yucaipa High School gymnasium, meanwhile, about 600 displaced campers were waiting too, occupying themselves by, among other things, playing basketball and talking on cellphones.

“We thought it was a joke,” said Jose Jimenez, 10, who was taking a shower at Camp Morning Star when the order came to leave.

“When we realized it was real, we had to get our clothes on.”

Children at Camp Gilboa had just arrived for their monthlong stay and were about to get fire-safety instructions when the evacuation started. “They probably won’t need that now,” camp director Avo Azosolees said.

And Danny Pulley, a dance teacher at Camp Bravo, which specializes in theater arts, said that her kids were in the swimming pool around 3:30 p.m. when she looked up and noticed the smoke.

“It started gray and black and then got orange and swirly and turned white at the top,” Pulley said.

“I couldn’t smell it, though.”

The cause of the fire is still under investigation.

Staff writers Stephanie Ramos and Ashley Powers contributed to this report.