Crime & Safety
Mountain Fire Burning Drought-Killed Trees in San Gorgonio Wilderness
The fire started Sunday morning and by 6 p.m. Monday it had burned an estimated 150 acres on steep, densely-wooded slopes north of Forest Falls, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
More than 300 firefighters were assigned to a mountain forest fire burning dead trees on densely wooded steeps in the San Gorgonio Wilderness north of Forest Falls, Forest Service officials said Monday evening.
Factors complicating the mountain fire fight included extremely steep, rocky terrain, and heavy timber fuels already dead from "extreme bug kill/drought kill," according to the Forest Service.
The Momyer Fire, named for a creek in the area, had burned about 150 acres between 7,000 and 9,000 feet elevation, a Forest Service spokeswoman said.
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No communities were threatened, but the Forest Service closed the Momyer Creek and Vivian Creek trails until further notice. Incident command was set up at the Momyer Creek trailhead in Forest Falls, according to the Forest Service.
The fire was reported about 10:30 a.m. Sunday, and fire activity increased between midnight and 5:00 a.m. Monday, according to the Forest Service. Six firefighter crews were expected to hike into the fire area Monday to relieve four overnight shift crews.
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The fire was considered 40 percent contained and was "actively burning" as of 6 p.m. Monday, Forest Service officials said.
There was no timetable for expected containment or control of the fire, according to the Forest Service.
The fire was burning in a north to northeast direction, west of Alger Creek and north of the Momyer Creek Trail, according to the Forest Service.
Aircraft available for the fire fight Monday included five helicopters and two tanker planes, according to the Forest Service.
Scientists warned before devastating mountain fires in 2003 that drought and bark beetles had killed millions of trees in the San Bernardino National Forest, which straddles San Bernardino and Riverside counties.
More than a million dead trees have since been removed from mountain communities including Angelus Oaks, Forest Falls, Big Bear and Idyllwild, but millions more dead trees remain standing and fallen in high mountain wilderness areas.
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