The wind-driven Post fire in Gorman north of Los Angeles continued to push south to less than a mile from Pyramid Lake on Monday, June 17, while fires in Hesperia and Moreno Valley in the Inland Empire were well under control, authorities said.
The Post fire, burning along the 5 Freeway, increased in size overnight by about 1,000 acres to 15,610 acres with 8% containment.
Containment is the percentage of a fire encircled with a line created by hand and hose lines or natural breaks such as rivers that crews are confident the flames will not jump.
Kenichi Haskett, a spokesman for the Post fire commanders, said midday Monday that the eastern flank of the fire is a couple of miles from Pyramid Lake and its campgrounds, while the western flank is within eyesight of the lake. There are picnic tables, offices, restrooms and other buildings on the property.
• Related: This map shows the location where the Post fire in Gorman is burning
Hand crews are hiking up steep, rugged terrain to battle the flames, which conceivably could reach the lake by Monday night if those efforts are unsuccessful, Haskett said.
“The wind is moving it around a little bit, making it challenging to the firefighters in those areas,” Haskett said. “Luckily, we were able to get a good handle on it, but it’s still moving around. There is potential for it to behave erratically because of the winds, and then you get the spot fires.”
Haskett said he was unaware of any large-scale evacuations of animals or threats to historic structures.
Ten commercial buildings and 50 homes remained threatened, officials said. One commercial property was destroyed.
The fire prompted the evacuation of about 1,200 people from the Hungry Valley State Vehicular Recreation Area. Pyramid Lake was also closed, and street closures were in place south of Ralphs Ranch Road at Quail Lake Road.
The National Weather Service issued a red flag warning for the 5 Freeway corridor in Los Angeles County mountains until 5 p.m. Monday because of strong northwest-north winds and low humidity. Wind gusts of 45 to 55 mph were forecast across ridge tops. Although the freeway was open, Caltrans recommended that campers and trailers wait until the winds die down to travel that route. Updates on road conditions are available at the Caltrans website.
The South Coast Air Quality Management District issued a wildfire smoke advisory for the Santa Clarita and Castaic areas, with winds expected to push smoke from the fire southeast toward Santa Clarita, the San Fernando Valley and parts of the Angeles National Forest. The SCAQMD advised people to remain indoors with windows and doors closed, to avoid vigorous physical activity and to run their air conditioners or air purifiers.
The Post fire started at about 1:45 p.m. Saturday at Ralph’s Ranch and Gorman School roads, near the 5 Freeway.
City News Service contributed to this report.
