By Beatriz Valenzuela
San Bernardino County Sun
BIG BEAR LAKE, Calif. — Firefighters have made some headway in battling the Holcomb fire just north of Big Bear Lake, with containment of the 950-acre blaze at 10 percent Tuesday morning, according to the latest information from the U.S. Forest Service.
The wildfire grew by 100 acres overnight, according to officials.
Big Bear-area residents are watching the fire’s progress closely, said Ronna Vanoostendorp, who works at the popular Thelma’s Family Restaurant on Big Bear Boulevard.
“Residents are fine — not too worried,” Vanoostendorp said by phone.
As a matter of fact, she said, the eatery was buzzing with customers Tuesday morning.
Although no mandatory evacuation orders are in place, there was a voluntary evacuation for the Holcomb Valley and Baldwin Lake areas, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department and Big Bear Fire Department.
A Disaster Animal Relocation Team has been mobilized to help anyone with evacuations in the areas, according to Holly McMillan.
“We are a group of volunteers who assist in times of disaster with animal evacuations,” she wrote in an email Monday night. “We currently have two teams in Lucerne Valley to help with animal evacuations both large and small.”
Other teams were on standby Monday night into Tuesday morning, she said. The team can be reached at 760-267-0104 or www.facebook.com/DART2016Cali.
Several road closures remain in place: Highway 18 between Delta Avenue in Baldwin Lake and Mitsubishi Plant Road to the north in Lucerne Valley; Holcomb Valley Road (also known as 3N16) between Highway 18 and Van Dusen Canyon Road (also known as 3N09) and Van Dusen Canyon Road/3N09 between Holcomb Valley Road/3N16 and North Shore Drive.
The Pacific Crest Trail is closed between Highway 18 and Van Dusen, and the Doble Trail and Tanglewood Group campgrounds are closed.
The fire was reported just after 3 p.m. Monday off Holcomb Valley Road north of Highway 18 and spread rapidly. It’s burning through timber, tall grass and chaparral, fire officials said.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation, authorities said.
Unhealthy air conditions in portions of the eastern San Bernardino Mountains are expected as a result of the fire, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which issued a smoke advisory Monday night.
“Winds are from the south and smoke is lofting deep in the atmosphere and moving to the north into the mountains and toward the high desert,” according to the advisory.
Tanker 911 -- a DC-10 turned into a massive firefighting plane that can carry 12,000 gallons of water or fire retardant -- could be seen Monday assisting the other aircraft and ground resources battling the fire. Pilots using special night-vision gear continued fighting the blaze overnight.
The Federal Aviation Administration has banned drones and private aircraft from flying over the area. Anyone who violates the temporary flight restriction “faces serious criminal charges,” according to the U.S. Forest Service, which notes that drones “pose a serious risk to firefighting and can cause air operations to cease.”
Copyright 2017 San Bernardino County Sun
The #HolcombFire continues to burn near Big Bear. @Sky5Tim has been monitoring the 850 acre fire. pic.twitter.com/UZXXMC9s8Z
— Nidia Becerra (@nidia_b) June 20, 2017