The Radford fire ignited Monday afternoon, Sept. 5, in the San Bernardino National Forest near south of Big Bear Lake. The blaze shut down Highway 38 in both directions from Mill Creek to Lakewood. (Photo courtesy of Caltrans)
Residents near Big Bear were forced to evacuate as the Radford fire grew to 330 acres with no containment Monday, Sept. 5, and shut down traffic on Highway 38 in both directions.
The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department issued an evacuation order for residents in the area of Glass Road to South Fork River Road, Yucaipa police announced on Twitter just before 6:30 p.m.
Highway 38 was closed from Mill Creek Road to Lakewood Road, according to Caltrans, as fire crews worked the fire lines.
The Radford fire was first reported after 1 p.m. south of Big Bear Lake.
Update 2: Closure remains in place, SR-38 both direct from Mill Creek to Lakewood. #Caltrans8 pictures from our Maintenance crews. pic.twitter.com/uwnbHVPGWo
— Caltrans District 8 (@Caltrans8) September 6, 2022
About 140 firefighters are assigned to the blaze, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Inland fire resources are divided between the Radford Fire and the Fairview fire near Hemet, which exploded Monday afternoon to hundreds of acres and forced evacuations.
Firefighters were battling the blaze from the air and ground, San Bernardino County fire tweeted.
Temperatures in the region soared again Monday as California declared a power grid emergency and a sustained heat wave threatened to push the state’s electricity system beyond its limit.
Originally published at Jeff Horseman