Big Bear Lake, CA – Big Bear News – UPDATE: 4pm: All Evacuation Mandatory Orders downgraded to Evacuation Warnings in the areas effected by the Line Fire. Many communities are still under an Evacuation Warning including. most areas Big Bear Valley, Cedar Glen, Lake Arrowhead, Angeles Oaks, Seven Oaks, Mountain Home Village, Forest Falls, Runnings Springs, Arrow Bear and Green Valley Lake.
Highway 18 is fully open in both directions from San Bernardino to The High Desert.
Highway 38 is fully open in both directions from the Big Bear Dam to Bryant Street in the Mentone Area.
Highway 330 is fully closed.
NEW: The World Central Kitchen Disaster Relief Organization is stepping in to help Big Bear by providing free boxed meals for everyone in the Valley. On both Tuesday and Wednesday, September 17th and 18th, free meals will be offered to the community for lunch from 12noon to 2pm and dinner from 5pm to 7pm. Meals will available for pick up in the parking lot of the Old Country Inn and Sonora Cantina Restaurants on Big Bear Blouvard in Big Bear Lake. These restaurants will be providing the meals purchased by the World Central Kitchen at no charge for anyone in the Big Bear Valley.
The Line Wildfire, arson caused, has grown slightly to 38,421 acres and is currently 36% contained primarily on the lower foothill sections of the fires perimeter, structures lost stands at two. Hand crews have been creating the containment lines and mopping up the hot or smoldering spots 300 feet back from the fires perimeter. Again today and for the next few days the weather will assist the 4100 men and women fighting the fire with much cooler days, higher humidity and a chance of showers moving into Southern California as early as tonight. The hot spots producing smoke and heat continue to be Northern and Eastern sectors where the terrain is steep being described as extreme. Because of the extreme topography hand crews are limited to accessing these areas safely so helicopter water drops are utilized and pre-positioning of personnel and equipment is planned to intercept the fire as it approaches more defensible areas like bulldozer and hand crew lines, ridge lines and mesa tops such as Bluff Mesa. Jeremey Pierce Fire Operations Battalion Chief and Big Bear Fire Chief Jeff Willis express cautious optimism that they have the upper hand but remind us that this fire is not out and there is always a chance that it could produce heavy smoke from time to time while making runs in Bear Creek or the Santa Ana watershed area.
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.
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.
All Evacuation Orders Mandatory have been lifted for all communities effected by the Line Fire.
The Evacuation Warning has been lifted only for the communities of Crestline, and Valley of Enchantment, Baldwin Lake and Lake Williams.
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.
