Brush Fire Near Wilderness Area Battled by 500
LYTLE CREEK, Calif. — About 500 firefighters battled a brush fire Wednesday that burned 700 acres and was on a path toward a wilderness area, officials said.
The blaze, reported about 11 a.m., was burning away from the tiny Lytle Creek community and no structures were threatened, said U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Judy Behrens.
But she said the fire’s westward path was carrying it toward the Cucamonga Wilderness Area. By Wednesday afternoon, it had burned within a mile of one section of the wilderness area.
“The attack is on to keep it (the fire) out,†she said.
Fire crews from the Forest Service, the California Department of Forestry and the Bureau of Land Management were battling 99-degree heat, rugged terrain and erratic winds, said Forest Service spokesman Heber Williams.
A cloud of smoke from the blaze could be seen 18 miles away in downtown San Bernardino, he added.
The blaze was burning in an area near the San Bernardino-Los Angeles county line, about six miles from the Cajon Junction on Interstate 15.
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