Firefighting crews made good progress on a number of fires that, yesterday, were sparked by lightning; none of these fires, however, were in our immediate area. In a conversation with John Miller, public information officer for the San Bernardino National Forest this morning, he tells KBHR, “Of the 22 fires we had yesterday, we had some that the weather would not allow us to get up there. The Peak Fire is now at 10 acres, around 9,000 feet in elevation at the San Bernardino Peak area, between Angelus Oaks and Forest Falls. We’re working that fire with helicopters, air tankers and smoke jumpers today, but there are no road closures at this time. For the next couple of days, the Forest Service will continue with reconnaissance flights to look for any more lightning fires. There are no fires posing any threat to the Big Bear Valley at this time. Of those 22 fires on the San Bernardino National Forest yesteday, there was nothing in the Big Bear area.”
Yesterday’s rain resulted in a total of .14 inch of precipitation in the Big Bear Valley. The precipitation included intense hail showers in some parts of the Valley, with enough hail on the ground to look as though there was snow in June.
Afternoon update: In the latest from the U.S. Forest Service on lightning-sparked fires, there are now 23 burning on the San Bernardino National Forest, though according to locally-based U.S.F.S. Battalion Chief Betty Ashe, “These fires are not in the Big Bear area—just everywhere else.” Given all these fires, we can expect to see and smell drift smoke in the Big Bear Valley today, much of it coming from the Peak Fire, which is burning at 9,000 feet on the San Bernardino Peak between Angelus Oaks and Forest Falls. Earlier today, it was estimated that 10 acres had burned on the Peak Fire, which is being attacked with helicopters, air tankers and smoke jumpers. Meanwhile, reconnaissance flights continue both this afternoon and tomorrow, as a means of detecting any additional lightning-sparked fires before they have an opportunity to spread. At this time, there are no local road closures as a result of fire.