Residences Burn in San Bernardino Fire

Flames consumed multiple homes in the San Bernardino area after a brush fire burned on Thursday. It quickly grew to engulf 200 acres, officials said.

Firefighters received reports on the fire near Highway 18 shortly after 1 a.m. and came to discover the blaze threatening several residences. Six homes were burned or destroyed by the fire, which has been named the Hillside fire. 

Scott Howes, deputy fire chief for the San Bernardino National Forest, said the firefighters saw a wind-driven, rapid-rate-of-spread fire heading downhill into the City of San Bernardino when they first got on the scene.

Howes said more than 500 firefighters were battling the blaze. The firemen were making good progress by Thursday afternoon as they contained 50 percent of the fire and had not tremendously spread on the day. However, the fire department said a fireman was taken to a hospital due to smoke inhalation.

Four teams that happened to be in the area because of high winds were dispatched to the Hillside fire. The fire had reached about 200 acres an hour later with steady winds of 20 to 30 mph (48.28 kilometers per hour) that gusted up to 60 mph (96.56 kilometers per hour).

Helicopters and fixed-wing aircrafts were also working to protect homes and get control of the raging blaze.

Wildfires have plagued California for the month of October. The fires, fuelled by rushing winds which pushed flames through the bushes and dry, gusty winds have collectively charred pieces of lands larger than Philadelphia and destroyed hundreds of homes and businesses.

The Hillside fire is being fueled by Santa Ana winds gusting up to 40 miles (64.37 kilometers) an hour as several other fires in Southern California have been this week. Local fire departments have often had to wait for the opportunity to use air firefighters and other firefighting tools that are being used in assisting other government agencies as multiple fires raging up and down the state.

Fire Departments in California "competing" for resources - official

Kathleen Opliger, deputy chief of the San Bernardino County Fire Department, said they are "competing for resources" with several other fires in California.

Investigators were able to track down where the fire started but not what caused it. Although there were no power lines in the area, they said.

The reference is to the recent power outages by Southern California Edison, PG&E, and other utilities throughout the state as a move to prevent fires when high winds blow through. Thousands of clients throughout Southern California had power shutoff during Wednesday, including Cal State San Bernardino that was closed on Thursday due to outages.

The winds that sweep through San Bernardino are as familiar as the hillsides that are a backdrop for more than a dozen homes along Viento Way, named after the Spanish word for "wind."

Smoke advisory released

The weather conditions prompted Dr. Maxwell Ohikhuare, San Bernardino County health officer, to issue a smoke advisory Thursday afternoon. People with respiratory issues in the region are urged to stay inside their houses and have their windows closed until the condition of the air and the fire situation improves.

Pacific High School in San Bernardino set up an evacuation center for the affected residences. There were 27 residents at the school, according to the staff said during peak fire activity early Thursday. However, no one remained at the evacuation center by 3:30 p.m.

Police officers in San Bernardino patrolled the affected evacuation zones. Spokesperson Cindy Bachman said officers encountered a handful of people who refused to evacuate. "We can't stress enough that the evacuation order is for their safety," she underscored.