Blue Cut fire burns 5,500 acres in Cajon Pass forcing 15 Freeway closure, evacuations

CAJON PASS >> More than 500 firefighters are battling a 5,500-acre brush fire Tuesday that has forced evacuations in the Cajon Pass area.

• LIVE UPDATES: Follow live updates from the Blue Cut fire

There is an imminent threat to structures and to rail traffic in the Cajon Pass, and two firefighters received minor injuries, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

“We have some structures destroyed,” U.S. Forest Service spokesman Bob Poole said Tuesday afternoon of the fast-changing developments. “I don’t have a number. I don’t know where.”

• PHOTOS: Firefighters are attacking the Blue Cut fire in the Cajon Pass

Mandatory evacuations have been ordered for all of the Cajon Valley west of the 15 Freeway all the way to Highway 2. In Phelan, the area north of Highway 138, east of Sheep Creek Road, south of Phelan Road and west of Caliente Road must evacuate. Evacuated areas include Lone Pine Canyon, Swarthout Canyon, West Cajon Valley and Lytle Creek Canyon must evacuate, according to the Sheriff’s Department.

The 15 Freeway is closed from Oak Hills to Devore, and Highway 138 is closed from Highway 2 to Lone Pine Canyon.

• MAP: Where the Blue Cut fire in the Cajon Pass is burning near the 15 Freeway

Although Wrightwood is under voluntary evacuation orders, the area surrounding Wrightwood Elementary is under mandatory evacuation orders, and Snowline Joint Unified officials are asking parents to pick up their students as soon as possible.

Students who are not able to be picked up by students will be taken to nearby Serrano High School for reunification with their families. Serrano High is not an evacuation center, though, according to Nancy Stapp, executive assistant to Superintendent Ryan Holman.

Oak Hills High School, in nearby Hesperia Unified, is farther from the smoke and flames of the Blue Cut Fire, and is an official Red Cross evacuation center.

Another Red Cross emergency shelter has been established for evacuees at the Jessie Turner Community Center, 15556 Summit Ave., Fontana.

For evacuees who can’t go south, a care center opened at Sultana High School, 17311 Sultana, Hesperia, according to the Red Cross.

In north San Bernardino, Kimbark Elementary School students are being evacuated to Chavez Middle School, where they will remain for the rest of the school day. Students may be picked up before dismissal time, but they will only be released to the person on the emergency contact list. That is only as a precaution, the San Bernardino City Unified School District reported.

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Increased traffic due to the fire might delay buses in Crestline, the Rim of the World Unified School District advised.

Devore Animal Shelter is accepting large and small animals from evacuated areas, according to the Sheriff’s Department. The shelter is at 19777 Shelter Way, San Bernardino. Large animals can also be taken to the Victorville Fair Grounds, 14800 7th Ave.

The Blue Cut fire was reported just after 10:30 a.m near Kenwood Avenue in the Cajon Pass, according to the U.S. Forest Service. Winds are blowing to the north, pushing smoke into the High Desert.

BNSF Railway Co. has shut down train operations through the Cajon Pass in both directions, said spokeswoman Lena Kent.

“We do have a train that is close to the fire that is in the process of safely being moved away from the area,” she said.

The Associated Press reported that a freight train was stopped by the fire and its crew had to flee.

The wind-driven fire comes as the National Weather Service reports several stations in the area with temperatures of 100 degrees and humidity of 5 percent.

The fire, which is visible from miles away, jumped Swarthout Canyon Road, according to the CHP.

Smoke led to unhealthy air quality in areas near Devore, the central and west San Bernardino Mountains and parts of the central San Bernardino Valley, according to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

People in areas affected by the smoke should avoid outdoor activity and run their air conditioners, the district advised.

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More to come.