El Dorado Fire: Massive Wall Of Flames Forces More Evacuations

YUCAIPA, CA — The massive El Dorado Fire has nearly tripled in size amid record-setting heat Sunday, forcing Yucaipa residents to flee their homes.

A smoke-generating pyrotechnic device used during a gender reveal party has been determined to be the cause of the blaze, Cal Fire announced in a news release late Sunday night.

The blaze exploded to 7,050 acres and was 5 percent contained as of 7 p.m. on Sunday night, the San Bernardino National Forest said.

The blaze was reported at 2,727 acres on Sunday morning after firefighters battled massive 300-foot walls of flame overnight.

Additional evacuation orders issued Saturday for Yucaipa residents east of Jefferson Street from Oak Glen Road to Yucaipa Ridge were updated Sunday afternoon to include the area north of Yucaipa Blvd. and east of Bryant.

#EldoradoFire evacuation order map. Red Cross reception center at Yucaipa community center. pic.twitter.com/OdEf4RFKEF
— Yucaipa Police (@YucaipaPD) September 7, 2020

The Yucaipa Community Center has been set up as a Red Cross evacuation center. An evacuation warning is in place for the Yucaipa bench area.

"Traumatized by that whole experience. I've left all my photos and that kind of thing,” Oak Glen resident Brenda Ebrahim told ABC7. “Already packed and I've got my trailer hooked up."

The fire broke out just before 10:30 a.m. Saturday in the 37000 block of Oak Glen Road, and it immediately grew by hundreds of acres, forcing the City of Oak Glen to evacuate, and orders were expanded to include Mountain Home Village, Forest Falls and the portions of Yucaipa east of Jefferson Street from Oak Glen Road to Yucaipa Ridge.

The blaze is burning near the burn scar of the Apple Fire that forced evacuations in Cherry Valley in August.

The U.S. Forest Service has been bracing for wildfires in the San Bernardino National Forest where an extreme heat wave was expected to bring triple digit temperatures Saturday along with intense wind gusts. The number of federal firefighters assigned for deployments in the San Bernardino National Forest had been increased heading into the Labor Day weekend heat wave.

"Extra personnel, including an engine strike team and a hot shot crew, will be pre-positioned for initial attack for any fires," according to a U.S. Forest Service statement on Friday.

Crews are now on 24-hour standby throughout the 676,666-acre preserve in anticipation of wildfires.

The National Weather Service issued a Red Flag Warning for the inland region that begins at 10 a.m. Saturday and ends 6 p.m. Sunday. According to meteorologists, fire risks are intense because of forecast 30 to 40 mph offshore winds and humidity levels at or below 10%, combined with potentially record-breaking triple digit heat, during the holiday weekend.

The blaze originated at 10:23 a.m. on Friday in the El Dorado Ranch Park in Yucaipa. It spread from the park to the north on Yucaipa Ridge that separates Mountain Home Village and Forest Falls from the City of Yucaipa.

Evacuation Order

• Oak Glen
• Mountain Home Village,
• Forest Falls and a portion of North Bench Yucaipa (east of Jefferson St., North of Oak Glen Rd., south of Yucaipa Ridge and west of the community of Oak Glen)

Evacuation Warning

• North Bench Yucaipa (west of Jefferson St. north of Oak Glen Rd., east of Bryant St., south of the Yucaipa Ridge)

Road Closures

• Highway 38 at Bryant St. in Yucaipa and the community of Angelus Oaks- Oak Glen Rd. between Pine Bench Rd. and Cherry Croft Dr.