California Wildfire: Evacuations Lifted, Roads Reopened

Officials lifted all evacuation orders and reopened the road on Thursday evening as fire crews were able to contain 50 percent of the Bruder fire in southern Redlands by about 5:15 pm.

About 50 homes were under mandatory evacuation as a newly sparked Bruder Fire is burning in San Bernardino County Wednesday night.

According to CalFire, the Bruder Fire raged south of Redlands in San Bernardino County and had consumed approximately 170 hectares. As of Thursday morning, only 30 percent of the fire had been contained.

Redland city officials said that the fire burned through the brush in a remote area and spread uphill toward homes, along neighboring ridgelines.

Red Flag Warning Issued Earlier

A Red Flag Warning was issued in several parts of Northern California, while a Fire Weather Watch has been issued for the mountains of Ventura and Los Angeles Counties, the Santa Clarita Valley, Inland Empire, and Northern San Diego County because of critical fire weather.

Adding difficulty in containing the fires are gusty winds, low humidity, and warm temperature which is expected to last until Friday.

The National Weather Service said that the potential for fires will remain above normal in Californians throughout October and November.

The NWS warned that humidity will drop into single-digit by Friday, which would mean extremely dry conditions as northeasterly winds blow from 15 to 25 mph, with gusts of up to 45 mph.

The warning also said that any fires that develop will likely spread rapidly thus outdoor burning is not recommended.

Intense winds were also forecasted in passes such as the San Gorgonio Pass between Whitewater and Cherry Valley, where multiple fires had erupted previously.

California's Largest Fire Season

Since the start of 2020, CalFire had recorded more than 8,500 wildfires that consumed more than 4.1 million acres in California. Fatalities in California Wildfire this year are now at 31 and more than 9,200 structures have been damaged

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Electricity Shut Off

The wildfires, hot and dry weather and windy conditions prompted the Pacific Gas & Electric to shut off electricity of about 53,000 customers in 24 counties as a preventive measure to keep powerlines and other infrastructures from sparking fires. Pacific Gas and Electric said that the power interruption could last until Friday morning.

Residents were urged to reduce their power usage from 3 P.M. to 10 P.M. to limit the strain on the power grid of the state.

Bruder Fire is Close to El Dorado Fire

The Bruder Fire is west of the El Dorado Fire which burned more than 22,000 acres but is 95 percent contained. Full containment is expected on December 31, the CalFire posted on its incident update. El Dorado fire ignited on September 5 near Yucaipa and was sparked by a pyrotechnic device a family used for a gender reveal event.

The American Red Cross set up a temporary evacuation point for Bruder fire victims at Redland High School.

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