COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy

The Bighorn fire burns Tuesday afternoon northwest of Mount Baldy Village. As of Friday, no property or structures have been damaged by the fire.

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Fire threatens residents at Mt. Baldy 

A wildfire has scorched upwards of 420 acres of brush northwest of Mount Baldy Village throughout the week, sparking memories of the 2003 Grand Prix fires that drove area residents away from their homes.

Ignited early Tuesday morning around 4:30 near Bear Canyon, the fire, called the Bighorn Fire, was fueled on by high-powered winds and rising temperatures. As of Friday morning at 8, the fire was 60 percent contained.

Battling the blaze has been no easy task for the 755 fire personnel assigned to the area due to terrain described as “steep and rugged.”

“We’ve had to airlift almost all of our firefighters in,” said US Forest Services Spokeswoman Dee Dechert.

Much of the effort has been made by 4 helicopters dropping up to 800 gallons of water at a time throughout daylight hours.

Only 6 recreational cabins near Bear Canyon were under mandatory evacuation due to their proximity to the fire. No property or structures have been damaged from the blaze, Ms. Dechert said.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation but investigators have ruled out natural causes.

“I can confidently say that it was human caused,” Ms. Dechert said. “Whether it was accidental or not, that is where the investigation plays a role.”

A father and daughter had been camping in the area of Bear Canyon where the fire began and had to be airlifted by helicopter to safety. Ms. Dechert did not say if the campers had a role in starting the fire.

On Thursday, winds had settled to between 6 and 12 miles per hour, down from highs earlier in the week of 30 miles per hour. The fire was “creeping down the canyon in a southwesterly direction,” Ms. Dechert said, and had come to within 3 quarters of a mile of the homes. Mt. Baldy Road would remain closed except to residents throughout Friday, she said.

The city of Claremont also reacted to the fire by utilizing for the first time its Code Red warning system. More than 21,000 calls were sent out with a recording from Police Chief Paul Cooper updating residents about the status and threat level of the fire. Residents can still sign up for the reverse 911 program by visiting the city’s website.

Mt. Baldy residents said the mood was calm because of better communication and cooperation among fire personnel than in previous emergencies. (story continues below)

COURIER photo/Gabriel Fenoy

A helicopter drops water over burning brush near Bear Canyon, northwest of Mount Baldy Village, on Tuesday afternoon.

Margaret Glick, Ice Canyon resident and principal at Mt. Baldy School, said the school of 104 children was closed until Friday due to the danger. She said if the fire had come any closer to the school, an evacuation plan would have been enforced, consisting of removing important student files, the server of the computer network and a water color painting that was donated to the school.

Her husband is a volunteer fireman in Mt. Baldy who has helped Los Angeles and San Bernardino county fire departments throughout the ordeal.

“A lot of us who have lived up here many years are very aware of the danger,” Ms. Glick said. “We are just being watchful and aware, but there is no sense of panic.”

Mt. Baldy resident Elizabeth Sides-Preston and her husband were awaken by loud gusts of wind Tuesday morning before any notification of the fire came through. The couple stayed at home throughout much of the week’s ordeal, despite recommendations in her area of a voluntary evacuation.

“We began gathering our things up, put the animals in cages and had our cars packed up,” Ms. Sides-Preston said. “The flames were very high, we could see them from our window. We were within 3 minutes of evacuating.”

Ms. Sides-Preston came down the hill for the first time on Thursday to run her Claremont-based business but received hourly updates from her husband at home. She said communication has improved significantly among fire officials since the 2003 fires when she was twice told that her home had burned down. She said the better communication has helped reassure residents despite “the very intense” situation.

“[The fire] may be smaller but when you have flames that you can see from Mt. Baldy Road, that doesn’t make it any less scary,” she said.

—Tony Krickl