Stunning helicopter footage captured Wednesday shows the Radford Fire near Big Bear has reached the slopes of two ski resorts, though no structures have been lost to the blaze and no injuries have been reported.
The video, released by FIRIS, the Fire Integrated Real-time Intelligence System, shows the wildfire burning directly between Bear Mountain and Snow Summit.
San Bernardino National Forest officials confirmed Wednesday that the blaze had grown to 1,100 acres.
Containment was estimated at 2% Wednesday, officials said.
“At this time, there have been no reported injuries or structure loss due to the Radford Fire,” the city of Big Bear Lake tweeted.
The Radford Fire was first spotted Monday afternoon by a U.S. Forest Service helicopter doing lightning reconnaissance. Since then, it has expanded rapidly in the steep terrain south of Big Bear Lake and north of the Santa Ana River.
“Firefighters are engaging on all sides of the current fire perimeter,” the Forest Service said. “Reduced fuel along the northern edge of the fire is slowing down fire intensity and allowing firefighters to ‘go direct’ and halt fire progress where it is burning. “
Highway 38 remained closed between Valley of the Falls to Lake Williams.
Evacuation Orders:
-From Glass Road to South Fork River Road.
-Beverly Lane, south to 2N10 and 2N08, west to Castlerock.
-Summit Boulevard East to Club View and Evergreen Drive South.
Evacuation Warnings:
-The area of Club View east to Angles Camp Road and Vine Avenue south to Lassen Drive.
-Summit Blvd east to McAllister Rd, east of Hwy 18, and Fox Farm Rd south to Evergreen Rd.
An evacuation center was established at Big Bear High School on Maple Lane.
Interactive Radford Fire Evacuation Map – Tap Here
The Bear Valley Unified School District has made the decision to close all schools (with the exception of Fallsville) for the rest of the week, meaning classes won’t be held on Thursday or Friday.
More than 471 firefighters are battling the fire from the ground and from the air.
The cause is still under investigation.