Evacuation warnings still in place as Line Fire in San Bernardino County surpasses 3,000 acres

Firefighters rushed to the San Bernardino National Forest Thursday night after a wildfire in Highland spread into the nearby woods. 

The Line Fire started at around 6 p.m. Thursday and grew to 3,330 acres by Friday night, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire. When it started, it burned 172 acres within just a couple of hours before scorching hundreds more acres overnight.

One witness said he saw the fire explode from a brusher to a huge wall of flames.

Crews from the San Bernardino National Forest set up a unified command with Highland to dispatch 250 personnel to the fire. 

On Friday morning, SBCUSD Emergency Management said the fire behavior had slowed. But later, Cal Fire officials said it had spread to several hundred more acres by the afternoon.

Evacuation warnings were issued for neighborhoods east of Church Street, north of Highland Avenue, east of Weaver, and north of Greenspot to the Iron Bridge. 

So far, there are no mandatory evacuation orders in place.

Currently, there is a red flag warning for parts of Southern California alerting the public of weather bringing increased wildfire risks.

Meanwhile, air quality regulators issued a smoke advisory for areas near the Line Fire on Friday, warning of conditions ranging from unhealthy for sensitive groups to very unhealthy due to smoke from the wildfire. The category of "very unhealthy" indicates that everyone — including people without any health conditions — may experience harmful health-related side effects. 

The advisory from the South Coast Air Quality Management District said that winds were blowing smoke from the Line Fire west toward Highland and San Bernardino. The agency said people are expected to feel impacts from the smoke Friday and Saturday.

Other areas of the county, including Mentone, Redlands, and Running Springs, could also be affected.

Find more information here on how to protect your lungs amid wildfire smoke and poor air quality.