JUANA SUMMERS: In Southern California, three large wildfires are challenging residents and first responders. Cooling temperatures are helping firefighters after a blistering triple-digit heat wave, but the fires have already burned more than 100,000 acres, forced tens of thousands to evacuate and destroyed dozens of structures. Governor Gavin Newsom, Wednesday, declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles and San Bernardino Counties. Joining us now is reporter Jacob Margolis with member station LAist in Los Angeles. Jacob, welcome.
JACOB MARGOLIS: Thanks for having me.
SUMMERS = HOST: So Jacob, the largest of these three blazes - that's the Bridge Fire - started last weekend in the Angeles National Forest, just about 30 miles east of downtown LA. Tell us what the latest is there.
MARGOLIS: Yeah. The fire is already at 51,000 acres. It's 0% contained. And what's wild about it is that, in these huge mountains that you see in the background of all the photos of downtown Los Angeles, the fire has actually traversed that mountain range, from about city to desert, in a very short period of time. And it's been driven by the extreme heat you mentioned. We've also seen gusty winds. The steep terrain makes it tough to fight, and a lot of thick brush that hasn't burned in 20-plus years - all of that's resulted in really extreme fire behavior that's been hard to predict and hard to control. Like a couple of nights ago, when the fire showed up in Wrightwood, which is a mountain community - it showed up very fast, and people had to flee as the sky glowed orange. Here's resident Novel Carter at a Red Cross evacuation center in Pomona.
NOVEL CARTER: I've not just lost my home. I lost my business. I had an Airbnb and a spa in Wrightwood, Calif., and I lost all of that.
MARGOLIS: Yeah, so more than 30 structures have been destroyed, but the full extent of the damage won't be known until the fires abate.
SUMMERS = HOST: And there are two other wildfires nearby also threatening homes and businesses. Tell us what's going on there.
MARGOLIS: Yeah, it's this, like, kind of triangle of hell that's going on. There's the Line Fire that's threatening mountain communities in the San Bernardinos, the Big Bear area - appears to be a result of arson, and a suspect has been arrested. And then there's the Airport Fire, which is, again, about 30 more miles away, threatening Orange and Riverside Counties, inadvertently started by public works crews that were trying to prevent wildfires, sparking it with heavy equipment. The good news is the drop in temperatures, maybe a rise in humidity, could help slow the pace of some of these fires and give firefighters a fighting chance.
SUMMERS = HOST: I mean, Jacob, listening to you talk about this, Southern California is really getting hit hard here with these three major wildfires within 30 miles of each other in such a heavily populated area. I have to imagine this is just really tough for firefighters.
MARGOLIS: Yeah, I mean, resources stretched thin, three major fires in an area with a lot of people - everyone wants resources. And on top of that, firefighters are exhausted. They've been - some of them are already on forced leave right now 'cause it's later in the season. And in the coming days, we might see resources come in from further away, but people are tied up on other fires, too. All that said, even if, you know, we need more bodies on the fires, you can't just throw them at the fire and expect them to stop, especially with this chaotic fire behavior and especially if it's unsafe for firefighters to be out there.
SUMMERS = HOST: We're just in mid-September. Wildfire season in the West has only gotten longer in recent years. In a sentence or two, just how worried are fire officials for the months ahead?
MARGOLIS: I'm worried. Santa Ana wind season's right around the corner, and those fires are bad.
SUMMERS = HOST: Reporter Jacob Margolis with member station LAist. Thank you.
MARGOLIS: Thanks. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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