The Blue Cut Fire was a

wildfire A wildfire, forest fire, bushfire, wildland fire or rural fire is an unplanned, uncontrolled and unpredictable fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identi ...

in the

Cajon Pass Cajon Pass (; Spanish: ''Puerto del Cajón'' or ''Paso del Cajón'') is a mountain pass between the San Bernardino Mountains to the east and the San Gabriel Mountains to the west in Southern California. Created by the movements of the San Andre ...

, northeastern

San Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains ( es, Sierra de San Gabriel) are a mountain range located in northern Los Angeles County and western San Bernardino County, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies betw ...

, and

Mojave Desert The Mojave Desert ( ; mov, Hayikwiir Mat'aar; es, Desierto de Mojave) is a desert in the rain shadow of the Sierra Nevada mountains in the Southwestern United States. It is named for the indigenous Mojave people. It is located primarily ...

San Bernardino County, California San Bernardino County (), officially the County of San Bernardino, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 2,181, ...

. The fire, which began on the Blue Cut hiking trail in the

San Bernardino National Forest The San Bernardino National Forest is a United States National Forest in Southern California encompassing of which are federal. The forest is made up of two main divisions, the eastern portion of the San Gabriel Mountains and the San Bernard ...

, was first reported on August 16, 2016 at 10:36 a.m., just west of

Interstate 15 Interstate 15 (I-15) is a major Interstate Highway in the western United States, running through Southern California and the Intermountain West. I-15 begins near the Mexican border in San Diego County and stretches north to Alberta, Cana ...

. A red flag warning was in effect in the area of the fire, with temperatures near and winds gusting up to . By August 18, the fire had burned of land and destroyed 105 homes and 213 other structures.

Fire progression

Shortly after the fire broke out, evacuations began to be ordered for the nearby communities of West Cajon Valley, Lytle Creek, Lone Pine Canyon and Swarthout Canyon. By 3:00 p.m. on August 16, less than six hours after the fire started, it had spread westward to over , forcing additional mandatory evacuation orders for most of Oak Hills, Phelan and Summit Valley. Two firefighters were injured and briefly hospitalized on the morning of August 16, 2016 after becoming trapped while protecting homes in Swarthout Canyon. In a conference on August 17, the incident commander, battalion chief Michael Wakoski, stated that

acts as a natural

wind tunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...

, creating a funnel that can increase wind speeds by . These winds were causing the fire to spot upwards of a half mile (0.8 km) ahead of itself. By Thursday, August 18, the fire had grown to over and forced the evacuation of over 82,000 residents. The evacuations affected an estimated 34,500 residences. On Monday, August 22, fire officials said they had the fire 89% contained. The damaged area had grown to . Fire officials declared that the devastating wildfire was fully contained on Tuesday, August 23. The fire destroyed an estimated 105 homes and 213 other structures in San Bernardino County, and now ranks as the 20th most destructive wildfire in state history, according to Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Impacts

Due to the rapid growth and spread of the fire, fire officials ordered mandatory evacuations for over 82,000 residents in surrounding communities, including Wrightwood. The Summit Inn, a historic U.S. Route 66 roadside diner built in 1952, was destroyed by the fire. On Tuesday, August 16, 2016,

Caltrans The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the cabinet-level California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). Caltrans is headquartered in Sacrame ...

closed

through the

. This Interstate serves as the main route between

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...

and

Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vega ...

. Ten of the buildings belonging to the Thanksgiving Korean Church retreat in Phelan were destroyed by the fire. Another victim of the fire lost 135 of her livestock, and most of her property.

System stability of the electric power network

As the fire approached a corridor of three 500 kV and two 287 kV transmission lines, 15 line faults in a short period of time occurred. The voltage drops and the disturbed frequency signal lead to significant losses of PV generation in the area, the most significant was nearly 1200 MW around 11:45 a.m.

References

{{California wildfires 2016 California wildfires August 2016 events in the United States History of the Mojave Desert region Interstate 15 San Gabriel Mountains Wildfires in San Bernardino County, California San Bernardino National Forest

Fire progression

Impacts

System stability of the electric power network

See also

References