Brush Fires Break Out Across SoCal; Wrightwood Fire Explodes

LOS ANGELES, CA — A series of wildfires broke out across Southern California over the weekend including an explosive 775-acre fire in the San Gabriel Mountains' Wrightwood area.

Firefighters battled wildfires in Wrightwood, Duarte, and Oceanside along with a handful of smaller brush fires in San Diego County. Extreme heat and low humidity combined to create near critical fire conditions across the Southland, according to the National Weather Service.

Sheep Fire

The blaze in Wrightwood dubbed the Sheep Fire broke out Saturday afternoon amid intense heat and low humidity. On Sunday it grew from 45 acres to nearly 800 acres in less than three hours, according to Cal Fire, Angeles National Forest officials and the San Bernardino County Fire Department.

The fire forced a series of evacuations of the Desert Front and Wild Horse Canyon area to the North of Wrightwood along with all of Wrightwood, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

“Evacuation orders now also in place from Wright Road to Lone pine. Additionally, all of Wrightwood is under an evacuation warning,” the sheriff’s department tweeted Sunday.

The fire also forced the closure of Highway 138 to Highway 2.

According to Cal Fire, the blaze was 5 percent contained Sunday night.

Authorities set up an evacuation center at Serrano High School in Phelan. San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department deputies went door-to-door to notify people of the evacuation orders.

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Wala Fire

A 75-acre brush fire in Oceanside, south of Camp Pendleton, was stopped Sunday with no loss of structures, but at one point forced residents in surrounding neighborhoods to evacuate.

The evacuation order was lifted at 5:24 p.m., but non-residents were asked to avoid the area for the next several hours while first responders continue to work on the scene, according to the Oceanside Fire Department.

Residents in the 300 block of Rimhurst Court, Shadowtree and all of Wala Drive were asked to evacuate as firefighters battled the fire near the 600 block of Wala Drive Sunday afternoon.

The fire was first reported at 12:21 p.m. Sunday with firefighters from the OFD, Camp Pendleton, Cal Fire San Diego, the North County Fire Protection District, Vista, Encinitas and Carlsbad responding. The blaze was estimated at 80 acres on Sunday afternoon, but later reduced to 75.

Two air tankers were spreading retardant over the area at 1:45 p.m. The fire was stopped at 4:04 p.m. and all air resources were released at 4:18 p.m.

A plume of black smoke blanketed the area and could be seen for miles.

Authorities warned at 3 p..m. that smoke from the Oceanside fire was drifting into southwest Riverside County.

The city of Murrieta tweeted that smoke from the fire was "coming into our community" and reassured residents that there were no active fires in Murrieta.

Mop-up operations were expected to go into the evening.

Fish Canyon/Riverbed fire

Los Angeles County firefighters knocked down part of a brush fire that was burning in Duarte Sunday.

The Fish Canyon/Riverbed fire, which spread to Opal Canyon, was reported at 4:13 p.m., according to the department.

The Fish Canyon/Riverbed portion of the fire burned an estimated five acres and is now out, the department reported.

Meanwhile, the fire that spread to Opal Canyon and so far has charred an estimated 20 to 25 acres, and is still burning. There was no available containment figure as of 9 p.m. Sunday.

The blaze forced the evacuation of stables in Azusa.

No injuries have been reported. No structures were threatened as of 9 p.m. Sunday.

Barrett Junction Fire

San Diego County firefighters were battling a brush fire Sunday near Barrett Junction that had charred an estimated 65 acres by 8:30 p.m. Sunday.

The fire, two miles south of Barrett Junction and near Dulzura, was reported around 6:45 p.m., according to the San Diego County Fire Department.

No injuries were immediately reported.

Sixteen buildings were being evaluated, according to Cal Fire/San Diego County Fire Department.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.