Bobcat fire grows to 103,000 acres, making it among L.A. County’s biggest blazes ever – Los Angeles Times

Tim Wheeler, 62, a school structure maintenance worker, didn't understand what to expect when he drove up to the corner of Longview and Pallet Mesa roads in Juniper Hills late Sunday morning.His single-story

home was in the course of the Bobcat fire when he last saw it Thursday.For days he had

been viewing the fire creep toward the desert enclave.The blaze was burning on the nearby hillsides Wednesday. The next early morning, the wind shifted, blowing fire deeper into Juniper Hills. Flames made their method along Pallet Creek, throughout from Wheeler's house. Ashes were igniting hot spots ahead of the fire. Ad Wheeler, a U.S. Navy veteran, stated he got whatever

stated.”We're still in the thick of a great firefight,”Andrew Mitchell, public info officer with the U.S. Forest Service, said Sunday.There were flare-ups overnight around Mt. Wilson, however firefighters on the ground and in the air were able to prevent any losses there

, authorities said. Los Angeles County firefighter Tommy Davis puts out a hot spot on a hillside while battling the Bobcat fire as it continues to burn in the Angeles National Forest near Llano Sunday

, Sept. 20, 2020. Some homes and structures were lost in the Bobcat fire but most were conserved.(

Angeles Times )Advertisement The fire has burned 103,135 acres and is just 15%consisted of, authorities said. Fire authorities were hoping that lower temperatures and calmer winds anticipated Monday and Tuesday may give them an opportunity to get the upper hand on the blaze.

“I believe the next couple days we'll start to actually get a deal with on this fire because the conditions will be ideal and we'll have the ability to really draw back it with all our assets,” Mitchell said. He kept in mind the number of people combating the fire has steadily increased to more than 1,600, with assistance originating from as far as New York.Fueled by gusty winds, the fire more than doubled in size in simply a few days, growing almost 20,000 acres from Friday to Saturday alone and making an aggressive push to the north.The blaze chewed through a tremendous swath of the Angeles National Forest, turning into one of L.A. County's largest in terms of acres burned. Advertisement The county's largest fire, the Station blaze in 2009, burned 160,000 acres in the very same Angeles National Forest area, killing 2 firefighters and destroying more than 200

structures.The 2018 Woolsey fire burned 96,000 acres in L.A. and Ventura counties, destroying more than 1,600 structures and eliminating 3 people. The 1970 Clampitt fire in the northern San Fernando Valley burned 105,000 acres and eliminated four people.The level of the destruction wreaked by the Bobcat fire wasn't immediately clear.Crews still hadn't been able to head out and carry out a damage control as of Sunday early morning, as firemens were continuing to protect homes from flames, stated Larry Smith, public information officer with the U.S. Forest Service. Ad A Joshua tree burns near a charred field left by the Bobcat Fire in Juniper

Hills.(Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times)”At this time we're simply concentrating on capturing this thing,”Smith said.Crews were also racing to put

out hot spots, sometimes with the aid of bystanders.Melina Castillo was driving along Big Rock Creek Road, just previous Valyermo, when she and her 65-year-old daddy, Manuel Castillo, noticed heavy

smoke and flames. Ad”There's some shovels in the back of the truck,

and we've got to put it out, “she said.The father and daughter, who had actually been on their

method to examine their neighboring villa, grabbed 3 pails from the back of their silver Toyota Tundra. They stumbled upon the creek, which they used to fill the pails

with water to douse the flames.For about

15 minutes or more, they carried pails of water from the creek to the flames.

Throughout one journey, Manuel Castillo saw a firemen driving by and ran over to tell him flames were burning behind some homes.The firemen sped off in his pickup truck to look for more aid while other firefighters discovered the smoke and flames and pulled over, using shovels to

throw dirt on the fire. Advertisement Within minutes, the flames had been put out. Firemens thanked the Castillos for helping to conserve 2 homes.For Wheeler in Juniper Hills, Thursday marked the very first time he had actually been forced to evacuate his house in the 28 years he's lived there.There had actually been brush fires in the past, but firemens had actually handled to knock them out. Even when the Station fire threatened the neighborhood, the firemens had managed to keep it at bay.But this fire was different. For approximately 15 minutes the winds had actually pressed the fire down, burning homes, power lines and automobiles. Advertisement The remains of a burned home as the Bobcat fire continues to burn in the Angeles National Forest in Juniper Hills Sunday.(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)Wheeler said he drove down and parked off the

roadway. He said that the evacuation center was too far for him which he didn't have enough money to get a hotel. So he slept on top of his truck bed up until Sunday morning,

when he drove back up the road and saw how far the fire had actually reached, which houses had actually been conserved. Then he saw his blue home. It was standing. “I'm appreciative to God he kept it safe,”he said.But it wasn't just God he thanked. He understood the firefighters had actually striven to keep numerous houses in the area from burning down. Advertisement”L.A. County Fire conserved

my house,”he said.” They saved this location.” Standing outside his home, he saw that flames had actually burned the corner of his 5-acre property. That was the extent of the damage.The Bobcat fire was among 27 major wildfires that nearly 19,000 firemens were fighting throughout the state Sunday, according to

the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.The fires together have actually killed

26 people and ruined more than 6,100 structures because mid-August, Cal Fire stated. Ad Fifteen deaths have actually been connected to the North Complex fire, which had actually burned over 293,000 acres in Butte, Plumas and Yuba counties since Sunday. Crews reported development, with containment increasing from 58%Saturday to 64%by Sunday night.To the south, a firemen died last week while fighting the El Dorado fire in the San Bernardino National Forest. That fire, which authorities say was stimulated by a pyrotechnic gadget used during a gender reveal party, had actually burned 22,489 acres and was 59%consisted of Sunday, below

66%recently. The drop in containment showed both the development in acreage and a controlled burning operation that triggered part of the fire line to be reclassified from contained to uncontained, said Cathey Mattingly, public details officer with Cal Fire in San Bernardino.Firefighters were hoping to take advantage of a number of days of calm winds and much better humidity to get a handle on the blaze. Ad “But the long-term

projection is anticipating some more possible wind activity later in the week,”Mattingly said,” so we're simply sort of taking it day by day

right now.” A water-dropping helicopter makes a drop on the Bobcat fire as it continues to burn in the Angeles National Forest.(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)