Local Fire Crews Head to Sheep Fire

About 200 local firefighters headed to San Bernardino

Local firefighters are headed to a wildfire burning near Wrightwood, Calif., about 75 miles east of Los Angeles.

About 200 firefighters, four local hand crews and 35 fire engines have been sent to San Bernardino County to fight the Sheep Fire, according to Cal Fire. There are now about 1,000 firefighters on the ground battling the wildfire, which is a little more than 20 percent contained.

More than 7,500 acres of prime forest land between Cajon Pass and the Mountain High Ski Resort burned over the weekend in the second major blaze to hit the mountain range on the north side of the Los Angeles urban area in five weeks. The Sheep Fire broke out around 2 p.m. Saturday not far west of  Interstate 15 at the southern end of the Cajon Pass. The cause was not immediately known.

Three or four houses along Lytle Creek, and more than 7,500 acres of  pine trees and brush, were lost to flames.

Wrightwood's 6,000 residents got mandatory evacuation orders at 10 a.m. Sunday, when the blaze came roaring up Lone Pine Canyon from the southeast. That rugged chasm knifes through the San Gabriel Mountains.

Major highways in the area remain closed, including state Route 138 between Phelan and I-15, as well as state Route 2 between Cajon Junction and La Canada-Flintridge. Traffic on I-15, the major freeway between Southern California and Las Vegas, remained unimpeded.

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