Firefighters had their hands full over the weekend tending to multiple fires and several false alarms. Only two fires were still burning by Sunday morning, at Shields Peak in the San Gorgonio Wilderness.
Throughout Saturday afternoon and evening, crews responded to ten brush fires near Juniper Point, Bertha Peak, Erwin Lake, Seven Oaks, Angelus Oaks and Mentone. That one closed Route 38 until 8:30 Saturday night.
One of the Seven Oaks fires was inaccessible to vehicles, and repellers had to hike in 90 minutes to the 10 by 10 burning spot. In all cases, lightning struck trees and started blazes ranging from 5 square feet to 100 square feet.
Betty Ashe, battalion Chief for the US Forest Service, said their personnel got help from the fire departments of the Big Bear Valley, San Bernardino County and the Bureau of Land Management, which provided a helicopter. Crews continue to monitor knocked-out fires to make sure they don’t flare up again.
Update: There are no fires burning on the San Bernardino National Forest at this time (Monday morning). The Bertha Peak fire, just north of Big Bear, was held to 100′ x 100′, and was fully extinguished on Saturday.
