A Massive 25,600 Acre Wildfire In Southern California Is Now 'Four Percent' Contained 

By Megan Reynolds  |  August 18, 2016 | 5:36am
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The Blue Cut wildfire started early Tuesday morning 60 miles outside of San Bernadino and was still going Wednesday night as over 1,500 firefighters worked to contain the blaze.

Various news outlets report that this wildfire caused the mandatory evacuation of 85,000 people and has been powerfully hard to contain. Mike Wakoski, a veteran of the San Bernadino Fire Department said “In my 40 years of fighting fire, I’ve never seen fire behavior so extreme.”

With high winds and temperatures over 100 degrees exacerbating the situation, it feels like a small miracle that firefighters were able to contain it at all. The estimated area of damage was knocked down to 25,600 acres from 30,000.

The fire has done damage to about 34,500 homes in the area and has destroyed the Summit Inn, a beloved roadside diner and landmark on the crest of Route 66, near the Cajon Pass.

This fire is one of eight currently ongoing in California. The Soberanes Fire has been burning since July 22, damaging over an estimated 76,680 acres in Monterey County – the result of an illegal campfire somewhere in the vicinity of Big Sur.

Governor Jerry Brown has declared a state of emergency, sending the National Guard in to help with the relief efforts. California is currently smack dab in the middle of its fifth year of a historic drought.

 
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