Los Angeles Area Wildfire Threatens Buildings and Spawns Evacuation Orders

The Line Fire in San Bernardino County, California, has burned upwards of 20,000 acres as of Monday, prompting extensive evacuation orders as authorities attempt to control it.

The fire, in the mountains east of Los Angeles, only started a few days ago, and rapidly grew in size as persistent extreme heat and dry conditions have plagued the area. CalFire has said that more than 36,000 structures are threatened, and only three percent of the fire has so far been contained. Various parts of San Bernardino County are now under either an evacuation warning or evacuation order; in the latter case, the fire is considered “an immediate threat to life” and it is illegal to remain inside the threatened areas.

Governor Gavin Newsom has declared a state of emergency around the fire, and has requested federal support. More than 1,800 firefighters are already involved in trying to contain the Line Fire, and more are likely on the way. Climate change’s finger prints are, as usual, all over this, with late-season heat across the west coast; San Bernardino may reach 107 degrees again on Monday, offering little reprieve.

After a down year in terms of total acres burned in 2023 — “only” about 2.7 million across the U.S. — the 2024 fire season has started to creep up the charts. Burned acreage has exceeded 10 million acres three times in the last decade — 2015, 2017, and 2020, according to the National Interagency Fire Center — and at almost seven million acres so far this year, 2024 could end up in the record books.