Amidst a heat wave that lasted for several days and sent temperatures into the triple digits throughout the area, a wildfire with leaping flames that tore through the slopes of a national forest east of Los Angeles forced authorities to extend evacuations on Saturday.
About 65 miles east of Los Angeles, on the fringe of the San Bernardino National Forest, was the uncontrolled burn area known as the “Line Fire.” By Saturday afternoon, the fire had burned roughly 11 square miles of chaparral and grass, covering the area with a dense layer of black smoke.
The origin of the fire, which started on Thursday night, is being looked into.
There were about five hundred firefighters fighting the fire, assisted by aircraft and water-dropping helicopters hovering above houses and hillsides.
There was a “potential for large fire growth” in the following twelve hours, according to firefighters.
Thick clouds of smoke spiraled out from the fire, and flames topped the peaks on the hillsides.
There were no recorded injuries, and no houses or other buildings had been destroyed.
According to the National Weather Service, a high of 112 degrees Fahrenheit was recorded in downtown Los Angeles on Friday, making it the third occasion since 1877 that such a temperature has been attained there.