Lightning sparked a wildfire in the Sunfair Dry Lake in Joshua Tree Tuesday afternoon.
BLM firefighter Joshua McCool takes hose off a fire engine at the Cascade fire in Joshua Tree. Gary Daigneault photo
Just before 1 p.m., a San Bernardino National Forest Battalion Chief who was passing through on the way to the Dome fire in the Mojave National Preserve witnessed the lightning strike and resulting fire. The fire was burning two to three acres in light to medium vegetation. San Bernardino County firefighters went to work to keep the fire south of Broadway and west of Copper Mountain College.
Passing thunderstorms created strong and unpredictable winds, fueling the blaze. San Bernardino County Battalion Chief Mike McClintock said the fire had spread to 50 acres within 20 minutes, and 100 acres by 2 p.m.
Despite the erratic winds, high temperatures, and extremely dry vegetation, fire crews managed to contain the wildfire to 160 acres, and prevented the fire from spreading into BLM land. More than 40 county firefighters and BLM firefighters, along with hand crews, and water tenders worked to contain the fire.
Keith Roleff photo
There were no injuries and no structures were threatened by the blaze.
Courtesy San Bernardino County Fire
Keith Roleff photo
A few minutes before the Cascade lightning strike, lightning also hit near Quail Springs Road and Onaga Trail in BLM land in Joshua Tree. The fire, later estimated to be about one-tenth of an acre, was up in the rocks far off the road. Firefighters lost sight of the fire when a downpour doused in, but a crew from the Bureau of Land Management went back later and put a line around the blaze to make sure it didn’t spread.
