Firefighters are hoping the cold weather will help fight three major wildfires in Southern California

Firefighters battling three major wildfires in the mountains east of Los Angeles took advantage of cooler weather Wednesday as they slowly gained the upper hand, but not before dozens of homes were destroyed and thousands were displaced. forced to evacuate.

California is just now heading into wildfire season, but it has already seen three times more burned than in all of 2023. Wildfires have threatened tens of thousands of homes and other structures in Southern California as they they accelerated during a triple. heat wave in the numbers over the weekend.

No deaths were reported, but at least a dozen people, mostly firefighters, were treated for injuries, mostly heat-related, authorities said.

In the small community of Wrightwood, about 90 minutes outside Los Angeles, authorities begged residents to flee the fire that ripped through the Bridge, which burned more than a dozen homes in the area.

Resident Erin Arias said she was walking up the mountain when she was ordered to leave and did so, taking her passport and dog. On Wednesday, she and her husband sprayed water on the roof of their still-standing house. Their cat is missing, she said.

“It’s absolutely scary,” Arias said, looking at the charred embers of her neighbor’s home. “We’re really lucky.”

UCLA climatologist Daniel Swain said the fire moved extraordinarily quickly across complex terrain, likely giving residents less time to evacuate than usual and surprising even seasoned fire officials.

The Bridge Fire “had to climb mountainsides, burn downslope, jump over valleys, burn over new ridges and then back downslope at least twice in one effective burn period,” he said .

The full extent of the fire damage remained unclear. The three fires are:

— The Orange County Airport fire, which burned more than 35 square miles (91 square kilometers). The fire was contained to 5% on Wednesday night and was reportedly started by heavy equipment operating in the area. Orange County Fire Capt. Steve Concialdi said eight firefighters were treated for injuries, mostly heat-related. One resident suffered smoke inhalation and another suffered burns, he said. Several houses burned in the village of El Cariso.

— The San Bernardino National Forest fire, which was 18 percent contained Wednesday and has charred 57 square miles. The fire injured three firefighters. Authorities said it was caused by arson in Highland. A suspect was arrested on Tuesday.

— The East Los Angeles Bridge Fire, which grew tenfold in one day and burned 78 square miles (202 square kilometers), burned at least 33 homes and six cabins and forced the evacuation of 10,000 people . The cause of the fire is not yet known. It remained zero percent Wednesday night.

Gov. Gavin Newsom sent National Guard troops to help with evacuations, and the White House said President Joe Biden was monitoring the situation.

In the village of El Cariso, a community of 250 people along Highway 74 in Riverside County, an Associated Press photographer saw at least 10 homes and several cars engulfed in flames.

Orange County Fire Authority incident commander Kevin Fetterman said the fire was difficult to contain because of the terrain and dry conditions and because some areas had not burned in decades.

More than 5,500 homes in Riverside County were under evacuation orders, affecting more than 19,000 residents. Several cabins and recreational structures in the Cleveland National Forest were damaged.

In San Bernardino County, about 65,600 homes and buildings were threatened by the Line Fire, and residents on the southern edge of Big Bear Lake were told to evacuate Tuesday.

The Line Fire blanketed the area with a thick cloud of dark smoke that provided shade for firefighters trying to get ahead of the winds expected later Wednesday, said Fabian Herrera, a spokesman for those battling the Line Fire.

A Norco man suspected of starting a fire on Sept. 5 has been arrested and charged with arson, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department said. Officials did not say what was used to start the fire.

Investigators collected evidence from the man’s vehicle and home that suggests he may have been involved in starting other fires, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said Wednesday.

On the Nevada-California border near Reno, the Davis Fire forced thousands to evacuate over the weekend, destroyed a home and a dozen structures, and charred nearly 9 square miles of timber and brush along the Sierra’s eastern front Nevada.

Rich Meyr and Evelyn Kelley were the first to arrive at an evacuation center set up Wednesday at a recreation center in south Reno. Both said they had refused to evacuate previous fires, but decided to play it safe this time.

“My son’s wedding is on Saturday. I threw all the flowers and dresses in the RV and left. It looks like a garden store inside that RV,” Kelley said. “But who wants to burn alive?”

More than 600 firefighters kept the blaze from growing Wednesday despite strong winds that grounded all aircraft that had dropped retardant on the flames over the past two days. The fire was about 30% contained by Wednesday evening.

Thayer reported from El Cariso Village, Taxin from Santa Ana, Calif., and Rodriguez from San Francisco. Associated Press writers Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, Amy Hanson in Helena, Montana, Jaimie Ding in Los Angeles and Thomas Peipert in Denver contributed.

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