A fire that started Wednesday near Big Bear in the San Bernardino National Forest has spread to 11,000 acres, . Several summer camps in the area were evacuated due to what officials is the biggest fire in California’s forestland this year.
More than 1,000 people are working to put it out, but current conditions in California are ideal for wildfires. The drought has left at least 12.5 million trees dead and dry, leaving plenty of tinder for fires, the Los Angeles Times reports.
After the fire picked up near Jenks Lake Road, winds carried it east along Highway 38. The Los Angeles Times reports that no homes are in danger, but about 150 cabins in the San Gorgonio Wilderness area are in the way of the blaze. One backpacker, 74-year-old Stanley Reese, had to be airlifted out of San Gorgonio. He was in the midst of a three-day trip and called for rescue at 10:30 on Thursday morning.
The fire is now 10 percent contained, but trails into the San Gorgonio Wilderness have been closed, as has the stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail from Whitewater Preserve to Onyx Summit, .