Line Fire In San Bernardino Mountains Continues To Challenge Crews

Here are the morning’s top stories on Tuesday, September 10, 2024…

• In the San Bernardino mountains, the Line Fire has burned more than 26,000 acres. The fire is only 5% contained and is expected to get bigger in the next few days. More than 65,000 homes and other structures are threatened. 
• In Orange County, a fire that broke out on Monday and rapidly grew has burned about 9,000 acres as of Tuesday morning. The Airport Fire broke out between rugged scrublands and suburban neighborhoods in the county’s Trabuco Canyon area.
• Authorities continue to assess damage to the city of Clearlake from a wildfire that ignited Sunday in Lake County. The Boyles Fire burned at least 30 homes and as many as 60 cars.
• A new report that assessed K-12 schools nationwide gives California a “D” on school data transparency.

Hope For Crews Battling Line Fire

Several days of extreme temperatures have stoked a wildfire in Southern California that burned so hot it created its own thunderstorm-like weather systems, but firefighters hope to gain the upper hand as cooler weather is expected to move in after Tuesday.

The Line Fire has forced at least 6,000 people to evacuate and threatened thousands of homes and commercial structures as it burns along the edge of the San Bernardino National Forest, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) east of Los Angeles.

“We’re dealing with triple-digit temperatures and hard-to-reach steep areas where there has not been fire in decades, or in recorded history, so all that vegetation has led to significant fuel loads,” Cal Fire spokesperson Rick Carhart said.

Sparked By Public Works Equipment, Airport Fire Forces Evacuations In Orange County

A fast-burning fire in Trabuco Canyon in Orange County quickly forced mandatory evacuations of nearby homes. With a massive plume of smoke, the Airport Fire was visible over a wide area into the Monday evening commute. By early Tuesday, the fire had grown to approximately 9,000 acres, even as firefighters worked through the night.

Orange County Fire Authority said the fire was sparked when OC Public Works employees were using heavy equipment to replace barriers with boulders, restricting access in the area.

“After placing a load of boulders, the operators began seeing smoke coming from the area of the loaders basket,” OCFA deputy chief TJ McGovern said during a news briefing Monday night. “The operator and the supervisor used multiple fire extinguishers and the loaders to attempt to extinguish the fire while 911 was being called.”

After Lake County Fire Burns Dozens Of Homes And Vehicles, Crews Search For Casualties

A day after the Boyles Fire broke out and swept through brush into a Lake County neighborhood, burning homes and vehicles, authorities on Monday assessed the destruction and searched for any potential casualties.

While no injuries have been reported yet, firefighters and law enforcement struggled to get residents out of their homes before they were overtaken by flames Sunday afternoon.

Cadaver dogs were brought in on Monday to sweep the area, said Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire, who represents Lake County. Firefighters will focus on “mopping up,” or putting out any remaining hotspots.

The wildfire started behind a shopping center and moved quickly uphill into the neighborhood. So far, about 30 homes and an estimated 40-60 vehicles, including RVs and trailers, are known to have been destroyed, according to a Cal Fire spokesperson. Those numbers are likely to rise.

California Schools Release A Blizzard Of Data, And That’s Why Parents Can’t Make Sense Of It

California has a wealth of data about K-12 public schools — test scores, attendance rates, who’s headed to college and more. Finding it is another story.

Information about the state’s 5.8 million students and their schools is spread across at least five websites, each outfitted with dozens of filters, drop-down menus and color-coded graphics. That scattered approach to data transparency prevents parents from truly understanding how their children’s schools are faring — and taking action to improve them, according to a report released Monday.

The report, published by the Center for Reinventing Public Education at Arizona State University, gave California a “D” for school data transparency, compared to other states. Researchers looked at how states present test scores in math, social studies, reading and science, as well as absenteeism and graduation rates and English learner progress.