Big Bear Lake, CA – Big Bear News – UPDATE: 8:45pm: With the change of evacuation status for the West end of Big Bear Lake, Mountain Transit will resume service on Sunday, September 15th, for all regular service lines, including the Blue Line. Off the Mountain service for Big Bear is still suspended until further notice. Mountain Transit will provide free return trips to Big Bear from the Victorville Evacuation Center and Victorville Transit Center on Sunday, September 15th and Monday, September 16th at 10am and 2pm on an as needed basis. To schedule a ride up to Big Bear, call Mountain Transit at 909-878-5200 between 8am and 5pm.
Bear Valley Unified School District has cancelled all classes at all sites for Monday, September 16th.
UPDATE: 2:45pm: The Evacuation Order for Big Bear Lake has been downgraded to an Evacuation Warning. The area specifically applies to the Western portion of Big Bear Lake from the dam east to Wildrose Lane, now considered an Evacuation Warning area.
The public is invited to a Big Bear Lake Community Meeting tonight Saturday, September 14th with fire personnel at 7pm at North Shore Elementary School on Stanfield Cutoff. You can also watch the meeting LIVE on Facebook at https://facebook.com/calfirebdu/ and on YouTube at https://youtube.com/@calfiresanbernardino.
UPDATE: 10:45am: Bear Valley Electric Service (BVES) is notifying customers that Southern California Edison (SCE) may implement a Public Safety Power Shutoff, known as a PSPS, affecting BVES supply lines. Southern California Edison PSPS consideration is not associated with the Line Fire. It is due to anticipated extreme weather conditions in Lucerne Valley, which may impact the SCE power lines that supply electricity to Bear Valley Electric. This precaution is mainly due to high winds and aims to reduce wildfire risk, ensuring community safety. The period of concern is Sunday, September 15, 2024 from 12:00 noon until 6:00 pm Monday, September 16, 2024. The outages could be intermittent or for longer periods of time during the period of concern.
The Line Fire is cooling with very little forward movement, consuming more unburnt fuel within the burn perimeter today measured at 38,074 acres with 25% containment, 3398 personnel assigned. The weather continues to aid the fire fighters with cooler temperatures and higher humidity. The intense smoke that has covered Big Bear has eased especially in the morning hours becoming more dense during the afternoon hours as the inversion, as predicted traps smoke below it. Hand Crews, Engines, Brush Engines, Bulldozers and Helicopters will continue to work the areas of Bluff Mesa and Angelus Oaks. Smoke will be generated from the Santa Ana Watershed Area and Bear Creek area and will be seen in the Big Bear Valley. Normal Big Bear Fire Department 911 emergency calls have gone uninterrupted with the help of duty firefighters and paramedics called back to assist during this fire event.
Due to the air quality Bear Valley Community Hospital has N95 face masks they are giving away at no charge, one per person. Go to the Garstin Hospital front entrance to obtain yours.
Road closures include Highway 330, Highway 18 from Kuffle Canyon to the Big Bear Dam and Highway 38, closed at Bryant Street. The only route of travel for Big Bear is to/from Highway 18, Lucerne Valley.
Mountain Transit has resumed transportation services in Big Bear for the Red line, Gold line and Dial-A-Ride, with the exception for the mandatory evacuation orders that are in place. The Blue line is suspended until further notice.
Photos taken from Highway 18 looking across and down Bear Creek 9:00 AM September 14, 2024
