As the Bridge fire swept through mountain communities Tuesday night, Mountain High’s webcam showed a dramatic scene: Flames cutting through ski lifts at the well-known ski resort.
The images boded ill for Mountain High, but as the night wore on, the resort’s fate remained a mystery.
With sunrise, it became clear that the resort largely survived the blaze.
“Fire raced through the area yesterday, but all the main lifts and buildings survived with little to no damage,” according to a post from Mountain High. “Thank you to all the employees and fire fighters for their hard work. Our hearts go out to the Wrightwood families that may be suffering. We are with you!”
Some homes were burned in nearby Wrightwood, but exact numbers were unavailable Wednesday morning.
Located about 75 miles northeast of L.A., Mountain High has three mountains for skiers and boarders, an ice rink for skaters and Yeti’s Snowplay, which includes tubing and sledding for young ones.
The Bridge fire broke out Sunday in Angeles National Forest, with the flames spreading rapidly Tuesday in the northeast area, forest officials reported.
Between Tuesday and early Wednesday, the blaze exploded from 4,000 acres to 47,904 acres, growing more than 10 times in size.
Angeles National Forest visitors were being evacuated Sunday as a wildfire broke out north of Glendora in Los Angeles County.
Dubbed the Bridge fire, the blaze had quickly grown to 200 acres as of 6 p.m. Sunday, according to Dana Dierkes, public affairs officer for the Angeles National Forest.
Forest officials said firefighters were performing an “aggressive attack with air and ground resources.” As crews labored, the temperature hit 105 degrees in nearby Glendora.
Dierkes told The Times it was “likely a very busy day” in the forest “given the high temperatures. Visitors come to find relief from the heat in the waters of the San Gabriel River.” Cars parked along forest roads can block firefighters as they try to get to the location of a wildfire, Dierkes noted.
The cause of the fire, which was 0% contained Sunday evening, was under investigation.
Several roads were closed, including State Route 39, East Fork Road, Glendora Mountain Road and Glendora Ridge Road.
Meanwhile, the fight continued against the Line fire in San Bernardino County. The wildfire had caused mandatory evacuations in multiple mountain communities and was threatening more than 35,000 structures.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday declared a state of emergency due to the rapidly expanding blaze.
Los Angeles County prosecutors charged a 40-year-old man with sexually assaulting two women in his van in a secluded part of the Angeles National Forest earlier this week.
Eduardo Sarabia was charged Wednesday with one count of forcible rape and one count of forcible oral copulation, according to court records. Sarabia is accused of raping a woman after driving her to a concealed area of the forest on Sunday and then sexually assaulting a second woman in the same remote area on Monday, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. George Gascón’s office announced in a news release. The incidents took place along Highway 39 between the hours of 9:30 p.m. and 10 p.m. authorities said.
“The horrific and violent sexual assault that these two survivors endured by the alleged suspect is deeply troubling and incomprehensible. Our thoughts are with the victims during this tremendously difficult time,” Gascón said in a statement on Thursday.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is asking for the public’s help to find any additional victims. Based on the circumstances surrounding the case, investigators believe there could be more unidentified victims. The Sheriff’s Department released images of Sarabia and his windowless white-paneled van.
“I want to emphasize that this is an ongoing investigation, and there may be additional victims who have yet to come forward. I urge anyone who has been affected by similar incidents to contact law enforcement and seek available resources,” Gascón said.
Sarabia was arraigned in a Pomona courtroom Wednesday and is due back in court June 27. Anyone with information about this case can contact the Sheriff’s Department, Special Victims Bureau at 877-710-5273 or by email at specialvictimsbureau@lasd.org.
President Joe Biden will add nearly 106,000 acres to the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument on Thursday, May 2, expanding the monument designated 10 years ago by President Barack Obama by nearly one-third, according to the White House.
Also, Biden will approve a 13,696-acre expansion of the Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument in northern California’s inner coast range, north of Sacramento. The two designations will be signed as proclamations by Biden later today at the White House through use powers granted to the executive branch. Together, they will add protections from mining and new highways to nearly 120,000 acres of wild lands in the state.
The San Gabriel Mountains monument expansion will add 105,919 acres of Angeles National Forest land to the existing 346,179-acre SGM monument, protecting closer-in areas in the western Angeles, including historic Chantry Flat, the Arroyo Seco and federal forest lands near Sunland, Tujunga and Santa Clarita.
Along with the expansion of the SGM monument, Biden promised additional resources for the area known as “L.A’s backyard playground,” located within 90 minutes of 18 million Southern Californians.
The White House announced funding for an unknown number of additional field rangers, interpretive rangers and positions to help with visitors. Also, $2.3 million in Great American Outdoors Act funding will be invested in the monument to rehabilitate barracks and provide housing for recreation and other Angeles National Forest staff, the White House said.
The Angeles National Forest received nearly 4.6 million visitors in 2021, more than Yosemite and Yellowstone national parks. Yet many areas remain closed due to fires, subsequent flooding and not enough funding to complete repairs.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will join President Biden in the signing of the proclamations.
“The San Gabriel Mountains National Monument is a crown jewel for Los Angeles. It is a backyard to millions of people, and is also home to cultural resources, rare animals and plants, unique geology, and dynamic forests, rivers and high peaks,” said Secretary Vilsack. “President Biden’s actions today ensure this remarkable place is protected for current and future generations.”
Others were jubilant over the presidential designation, something that was expected to happen on Earth Day in April but was pushed back. This included Rep. Judy Chu, D-Pasadena, who was present when Obama signed the original designation in 2014 and has championed the expansion for the last 10 years.
“In 2014, President Obama answered our calls by designating the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument for the first time. Since then, we have introduced legislation and fought to complete the vision of an expanded Monument that includes some of the most visited and beautiful lands in the western Angeles Forest. President Biden and the Biden-Harris Administration heard us,” wrote Chu in a prepared statement.
The monument before the expansion includes 342,177 acres of the Angeles National Forest and 4,002 acres of the neighboring San Bernardino National Forest. The addition also takes in lands owned and managed by the U.S. Forest Service.
Biden added to what Obama started by using the Antiquities Act of 1906, first used by President Theodore Roosevelt to designate Devils Tower National Monument in Wyoming. Eighteen presidents of both parties have used this power to designate other national monuments, including the Statue of Liberty, Colorado’s Canyon of the Ancients, and New Mexico’s Gila Cliff Dwellings
The San Gabriel Mountains monument is renowned for scenic mountain peaks, dark canyons, a plethora of flora and fauna species, hiking trails, campsites, streams and reservoirs. The addition takes in more popular portions of the western Angeles National Forest left outside the boundaries by Obama.
A map of the proposed addition to the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. (graphic by Jeff Goertzen/SCNG)
The expansion includes areas north of Sylmar and east of the Newhall Pass, near Placerita Canyon in the Santa Clarita area. It would include the Upper Arroyo Seco, a historic tributary of the Los Angeles River with headwaters in the Angeles that meanders through La Canada Flintridge, Pasadena and South Pasadena. Also, the addition includes the Big Tujunga Reservoir and Big Tujunga Canyon, Switzer’s Camp, Millard Canyon and Eaton Canyon waterfall.
Another key addition is a closer-in area known as Chantry Flat, a popular hiking, picnicking and camping spot north of Arcadia and Sierra Madre that has attracted thousands of visitors on weekends but has been closed for several years due to damage from fires, rainstorms and a lack of resources from the U.S. Forest Service to make repairs.
The road leading to Chantry Flat is closed. This area would be added to the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. (photo SCNG)
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Also included in the expansion is the site of Thaddeus Lowe’s funicular, the Mount Lowe Railway, which from 1893 to 1938 took people on a roller-coaster of a ride high into the mountains above Pasadena. The monument protects giant wheels used to hoist the railway onto the tracks, left on the side of the trail near Echo Mountain for decades.
Other historic trails that were created as part of the Great Hiking Era include the Gabrielino Trail, which was once a trade route used by Native American tribes and was recently restored. The new areas also contain ancient Native American relics.
A view of part of the proposed expansion area of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument, with downtown Los Angeles visible in the background, on April 16, 2024 near La Cañada Flintridge, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
Switzer Falls, off the historical Gabrielino Trail in the western part of the Angeles National Forest, as seen in June 2022, is scheduled to be added to the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument. (photo by Steve Scauzillo)
In an aerial view, a vehicle drives past a proposed expansion area (L) of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument in the Angeles National Forest on April 16, 2024 near La Cañada Flintridge, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
In an aerial view, water flows from Big Tujunga Dam, in a proposed expansion area of the San Gabriel Mountains National Monument in the Angeles National Forest, on April 16, 2024 near La Cañada Flintridge, California. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
“Our local community is overjoyed to see this next step in a 20-year effort to permanently protect the San Gabriel Mountains,” said Belén Bernal, executive director of Nature for All, a group lobbying for more resources and expansion of the monument. “The area included in the expanded San Gabriel Mountains National Monument is the closest section of the National Forest to the San Fernando Valley,” she added.
Guillermo Rodriguez, vice president of the Pacific Region and California director for Trust for Public Land, said the expansion of the San Gabriel Mountains monument will stimulate not just public, but also private funds, too.
“Having that special designation allows for greater resources to be invested in these areas,” Rodriguez said. “We have seen national monuments, like national parks, act as economic drivers. That increased attention and accessibility adds revenue to the local economy.”
About $1 million will be invested in the SGM monument from the State Water Resources Control Board, U.S. EPA, and the California Rivers and Mountains Conservancy, according to the White House.
A woman who went missing during a hike near the Angeles National Forest was found dead on Monday, a day after she was reported missing.
Julia Li, 21,was last seen near Bailey Canyon Park in Sierra Madre at 4 p.m. Sunday, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. Li’s mother reported her missing after they were separated during a hike and Li didn’t meet her at their car at the agreed-upon time, according to KTLA-TV.
Julia Li, 21, was last seen alive near Bailey Canyon Park in Sierra Madre on Sunday afternoon, authorities said.
(LAPD)
Early Monday morning, the Sheriff’s Department sent out an alert for Li, describing her as being 5 feet 2 and 110 pounds. Later that day, her body was found by the sheriff’s search and rescue personnel, the Sheriff’s Department said.
The L.A. County coroner’s office listed Li’s cause of death as blunt trauma. The Sheriff’s Department said foul play is not suspected at this time.
On a cool, cloudy morning one day last week, Albert Rivas approached a pile of dry wood in the Angeles National Forest and set it on fire.
The pile roared to life, and within minutes, it was spewing flames at least 10 feet tall. Rivas, a firefighter with the United States Forest Service, paused briefly to admire his handiwork before aiming his gasoline- and diesel-filled drip torch at another pile nearby.
By morning’s end, he and more than a dozen other Forest Service firefighters had burned about 17 acres’ worth of woody material around the Lower San Antonio Fire Station at the base of Mt. Baldy — a forest management feat they attributed to favorable weather and fuel conditions.
“It’s all about going at it the right way, correctly, with all the techniques,” Rivas said as smoke swirled around him.
A U.S. Forest Service fire crew stands behind the smoking remnants of a controlled burn.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
This year has indeed been favorable for Southern California firefighters. Heavy rains in winter — as well as a rare tropical storm in August — put an end to three years of punishing drought and made the landscape far less likely to burn.
“It was a fairly mild year,” said Robert Garcia, fire chief of the Angeles National Forest. “The fire season started later and, throughout most of the state, ended early. That provided us some reprieve from that intensity to our workforce, but also some tremendous opportunity this year to get out there and do more treatment on the landscape.”
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In 2023, there were 92 confirmed fires in the Angeles National Forest, the largest of which was about 420 acres. Statewide, firefighters responded to nearly 6,900 blazes that collectively burned about 320,000 acres, according to data from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
That’s a far cry from 2020 and 2021, the state’s two worst fire years on record, which together saw nearly 7 million acres burn, including California’s first million-acre fire.
U.S. Forest Service firefighters burn piles of forest debris below Mt. Baldy.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
Garcia attributed much of this year’s tameness to the rains, which ended the “off the charts” dryness that had plagued the landscape in recent years, priming it to burn. What’s more, the weather freed up resources across the state, meaning more crews were able to prepare for fires and respond when they ignited, keeping the numbers small. Some Southern California crews even deployed to assist with larger fires in Oregon, Washington and Canada.
But a mild year is not a year off, he said, and the outlook for 2024 could be affected by the damp conditions this year, which spurred tons of “green-up” in the form of new grasses and vegetation across the region and the state.
“There’s always trade-offs,” Garcia said. “One of the primary benefits [of the rain] is restoring some of the vegetation cycles, but generally speaking, depending on when Mother Nature turns that spigot off, it’s really a matter of how fast those fuels are going to dry out.”
The current seasonal outlook from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration calls for wetter-than-normal conditions in California through at least February, which forecasters say may be supercharged by El Niño. But once the rains stop, all that new vegetation could be fuel for next year’s conflagrations.
Piles of debris burn on a forested hillside.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
Still, there is no denying this year was beneficial. In the 2023 fiscal year — Oct. 1, 2022, through Sept. 30 — the Forest Service performed mechanical treatments on 261,000 acres of federal forestland in the state. Mechanical treatment includes wood chipping, mastication and removal of trees, branches, leaves, biomass and other material from the forest, which has built up in recent decades and can feed flames.
Forest Service crews in the state also conducted prescribed fires covering 51,614 acres, or fires that are intentionally set to clear out that same material. Firefighters in the Angeles National Forest were able to conduct prescribed burns all the way into June, which they have not been able to do for several years due to drought conditions, and resumed operations in October.
“Fire season historically has ended around November and started up again in May,” said David Gabaldon, a forestry fuels technician with the Forest Service and the “burn boss” at last week’s prescribed burn. “The last probably 10 years now, we’ve almost become a year-round fire department, or fire management group, due to other events like global warming and weather.”
He noted that he recently returned from a prescribed burn in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks, which had been “almost unheard of” in recent years because of the dry conditions.
Like Garcia, Gabaldon was concerned about the new growth this year. The grass was “coming back so quick that we would clear it, and then within two or three months during sprouting season, it would come right back up,” he said. “It’s like doing your yard.”
He hoped that the pile burns last week would act as a reminder to neighboring communities that defensible space efforts and home hardening projects can help protect them during a blaze.
Forest Service crews conducted prescribed fires covering 51,614 acres in California all the way into June, which they have not been able to do for several years due to drought conditions.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
“We’ve got to be the role model, so this is exactly what we’re trying to do here,” he said. “This is good defensible space around our own buildings.”
But challenges remain. Though the agency treated about 313,000 acres in the state this fiscal year, California is home to approximately 33 million acres of forestland — about 19 million acres of which are federally managed. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection treated about 91,000 acres this year.
What’s more, recent research published in the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment indicates that climate change is narrowing the window for prescribed burns in the Western United States.
As the planet warms, severe short-term drought will continue to combine with a long-term drying effect known as aridification to reduce adequate burn conditions in the region, the study found, “raising concerns that climate change will add to the many existing challenges to prescribed fire implementation.” By 2060, California could see an additional month or more each year when prescribed burns will be too dangerous.
The Forest Service is also grappling with a retention issue as crews fight for a permanent pay increase from the federal government. Base pay for some firefighters starts at as little as $15 an hour, and thousands have threatened to walk off the force if the pay increase is not finalized.
Garcia said so far, he has been able to maintain staffing levels on the Angeles National Forest, but he hoped to see a resolution soon.
Approximately 17 acres’ worth of material around the Lower San Antonio Fire Station was cleared during the recent controlled burn at the base of Mt. Baldy in Southern California.
(Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times)
At the same time, teams have benefited from a national wildfire crisis strategy introduced by the Biden administration, he said. The 10-year strategy includes congressional funding geared toward increasing the pace and scale of forest treatments, among other efforts. The strategy has identified Southern California as a priority landscape, Garcia said.
At the pile burn last week, crews were optimistic about such efforts. Mark Muñoz, a suppression battalion chief, said a fire recently sparked in an area of the forest that had been treated earlier in the season, and was quickly extinguished.
“Fighting fire in a treated area versus a non-treated area? Extremely important and crucial,” he said.
Muñoz added that while it may have seemed like a mild season from the outside, the work is nonstop.
“When we’re not fighting fire, we’re not hanging out on the sofa and watching TV — we’re out here cutting with chainsaws and hand tools, and we’re over here doing prescribed fire,” he said, motioning to the smoldering piles around him. “So 12 months out of the year, we’re still technically fighting fire. Because this is still fighting fire.”
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