Name: Illegal campfires in San Bernardino, Angeles forests fuel wildfire worries
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Illegal campfires in San Bernardino, Angeles forests fuel wildfire worries

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By | | San Gabriel Valley TribuneFire patrols in the San Bernardino National Forest have documented a 150% increase in illegal campfires, a dangerous trend that greatly increases the chances of sparking a major wildfire.And in the Angeles National Forest, worried rangers are so concerned about human-caused fires that on the weekends they’ve closed Chantry Flat, one of the most-visited hiking and camping areas in the 700,000-acre forest. Rangers also are ramping up fire suppression training near Mt. Baldy.Show Caption of&nbsp;“It is not a good trend. This is a trend happening that we want to reverse,” said Zach Behrens, spokesman for the San Bernardino forest on Tuesday, June 16.Illegal campfires in the 680,000-acre San Bernardino forest numbered about 33 at this time in 2019. They have spiked to 87 year-to-date, the U.S. Forest Service reported.Most of the illegal fires have been in the south and north sides of Big Bear Lake, as well as Running Springs and Arrowbear, Behrens said. Also, fire patrols went searching for illegal fires Wednesday, June 17, in more remote areas, such as Keller Peak and in the Idyllwild back country, he said.Illegal barbecues are becoming a big problem in Mill Creek and Lytle Creek, he added, where rangers reported “unprecedented number of visitors” the past few weekends.Why the surge?Since the stay-at-home orders meant to combat the novel coronavirus were eased, many Southern Californians took to the local mountains for fresh air. But what may be considered one of the safest places to avoid the – as long as campers are social distancing – could turn out to have dire consequences as fire season approaches.“At Big Bear for sure, we’ve been hammered,” Behrens said. “Once the restrictions started to lift, people are canceling longer-distanced trips and staying local.”Airbnb locations in Big Bear are once again filling up, he said. That adds to the number of people recreating in the forest, sometimes lighting ground campfires outside of campsites where neither campfires nor charcoal or wood barbecues are permitted.One fire prevention technician put out 40 illegal campfires himself, Behrens said, adding that the forest’s documented 87 illegal fires is most likely an under count.“We know on the ground we are experiencing unprecedented levels of people. And Fourth of July is around the corner,” he said., the 40-acre Green Fire near Highland and the 5-acre Town Fire. Luckily, cooler weather and mild breezes prevented a conflagration.In the Angeles forest, which stretches west to east from Santa Clarita to Mt. Baldy north of Upland, fire danger is the No. 1 concern, said John Clearwater, spokesperson for the Forest Service on the ANF.A rise in illegal campfires has become “a huge issue for us,” Clearwater said on Wednesday, June. 17. “It is among the reasons we had to do a temporary closure on Chantry Flat. It gets packed on the weekend and the risk of a fire breaking out was of tremendous concern.”Chantry Flat Road receives the third-highest amount of traffic into the forest, after Angeles Crest Highway and Highway 39. On weekdays, visitors can access this historic area, home to , as well as entry points to 30 miles of hiking trails.But the area is surrounded by the communities of Sierra Madre, Arcadia and Monrovia. The Forest Service closure began Saturday, June 13, and continues every weekend until further notice.The Forest Service cited the extremely high number of visitors and too many cars on the roadway potentially blocking fire trucks and other emergency vehicles.“The outdoors have become a real popular choice for people who want to get away from the pressures of life,” Clearwater said.“The problem we have is when people build fires out in the open They then pour water on top of it and say ‘OK, the fire is out’ but then winds bring those embers to the surface,” he added.Many are new to the forest and don’t understand the fire rules, Behrens and Clearwater said. Also, experts say 95% of all forest fires are human-caused. And visitors find the campfire essential to the outdoor experience.“Humans are hard wired to enjoy a fire,” said Rick Halsey, director of the California Chaparral Institute on Wednesday. “A campfire is a relaxing thing. It is a place for storytelling, romance, of course people are going to want to build a fire up there.”Unfortunately, many don’t know that a fire in an open area can smolder for days, even after someone sprinkles dirt or water on it. “People just don’t know how to put out fires,” Halsey said.To get ready for what could be a busy fire season, on Thursday, June 18, the Forest Service will test night-flying helicopters in and around the mountain hamlet of Wrightwood, near Baldy. Pilots with night vision equipment will dip into a reservoir and drop water on a test fire from 7 p.m to 8:30 p.m., he said.Meanwhile, fire prevention technicians are roaming the local forests surrounding 22 million Southern California residents to scope out illegal campfires or barbecues. A violation could result in six months in jail and a fine of up to $5,000 per person.Campfires are only allowed in Forest Service-built fire rings. These are found in campsites and in what’s called “yellow post sites,” which are more remote areas scattered within the forest back country, Behrens said.Also, grilling with wood or charcoal is only allowed on Forest Service grills, usually found affixed to a pole at a developed site. Camp stoves using propane or other enclosed fuels are allowed but only with a which can be obtained online at no cost, Behrens said.Fire danger is currently “High,” notches below “Very High,” “Extreme” and “Critical.” The level most likely will rise in the coming months, increasing the chances of fire outbreaks as visitors to the forests also increase, Behrens said.“A deadly disaster is in the cards if we are not careful about fires,” Clearwater said.We invite you to use our commenting platform to engage in insightful conversations about issues in our community. We reserve the right at all times to remove any information or materials that are unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane, indecent or otherwise objectionable to us, and to disclose any information necessary to satisfy the law, regulation, or government request. We might permanently block any user who abuses these conditions.Get the latest news delivered daily!Follow UsMost PopularClose

By | | San Gabriel Valley TribuneFire patrols in the San Bernardino National Forest have documented a 150% increase in illegal campfires, a dangerous trend that greatly increases the chances of sparking a major wildfire.And in the Angeles National Forest, worried rangers are so concerned about human-caused fires that on the weekends they’ve closed Chantry Flat, one of the most-visited hiking and camping areas in the 700,000-acre forest. Rangers also are ramping up fire suppression training near Mt. Baldy.Show Caption of&nbsp;“It is not a good trend. This is a trend happening that we want to...

Illegal campfires in San Bernardino, Angeles forests fuel wildfire worries

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