A girls’ soccer team on their way from Las Vegas to Carlsbad found themselves caught in a raging wildfire that had blown across the freeway Friday, torching 18 cars and two semi-trucks.
The blaze closed I-15 near San Bernardino for several hours Friday afternoon, and created a difficult and dangerous situation for trapped motorists.
Cedrick Crear, a soccer dad following the bus, said the fire was only two cars away from his.
“It was completely enraged at the top of the mountain. There was a big power station there that blew up and everyone's running out of their cars getting to the top of the mountain." Crear said. The top of the mountain was the only way out.
Talia Sclafani was on the bus with her teammates when they encountered the fire.
“I almost cried. My teammates, I've never seen the look on some of their faces like that at all. Mostly they are just happy all the time so it was just scary,"she said. “[I was] Worried because I didn't know what was going to happen or where I was going to end up."
The team was even able to help a pregnant woman and some children get to safety.
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“We just wanted to make sure that we stayed together. That was a big point. We all stayed together, we worked as a team. We were just blessed that it could've been a lot worse,” Crear said.
The team made it to Carlsbad late Friday night only to find out their game had been canncelled due to the thunderstorms Saturday, but they plan to play Sunday.
That section of 1-15 is now reopened and fire crews have the blaze 60 percent contained.
