Growth of Bridge fire burning north of La Verne slows overnight, but still no containment

The Bridge Fire burning in the Angeles National Forest since the weekend was at 3,786 acres by Tuesday morning, Sept. 10 and was still zero percent contained.

The fire didn’t grow much overnight and firefighters held it within its current perimeter, authorities said. Firefighters focused on the south side of the fire and were assisted by night-flying helicopters which dropped fire retardant on the wildfire for over five hours. The south side along with the east and west flanks remain the top priority to protect communities, communication and power infrastructure, officials said.

The fire moved east on Monday afternoon creating large plumes of smoke visible throughout the San Gabriel Valley.

An evacuation order was issued Monday for Baldy Village affecting residents north of the San Antonio Dam up to the Mt. Baldy Resort. As of Tuesday, the evacuation orders remain in place for Mt. Baldy Village as well as Camp Williams and the area near it. Camp Williams was evacuated Sunday.

The evacuation centers include the Jessie Turner Health and Fitness Community Center at 15556 Summit Ave. in Fontana and the Hacienda Heights Community Center at 1234 Valencia Ave. in Hacienda Heights.

Residents can take their animals to the Devore Animal Shelter at 19777 Shelter Way in San Bernardino.

The San Gabriel Canyon, the East Fork of the San Gabriel River are still closed to the public as are the following roads: Highway 39, East Fork Road, Glendora Ridge Road, Glendora Mountain Road and Mt. Baldy Road at Shinn Road intersection.

Due to firefighters’ efforts in the south end of the fire, La Verne Fire Chief Chris Nigg isn’t expecting any increased threat to La Verne on Tuesday.

“However, we are obviously monitoring,” he said.

He expects to update residents via videos on social media about the fire on Tuesday.

“Although the fire somewhat shifted to the northeast, it still poses a threat to foothill residents to an extent,” Nigg said.

The La Verne Fire department has a crew assisting on the southern part of the fire and the deputy fire chief is part of the command structure for the Bridge Fire, according to Nigg.

The Bridge Fire started in the East Fork Road area at 2:12 p.m. on  Sunday but firefighters have not yet determined the cause. Authorities said earlier it began around 2:40 p.m.