Sheep fire near Wrightwood is 85% contained, now 865 acres
Highway 2 between Desert Forest Road and Wright Mountain Road reopened Wednesday.
Firefighters continue to increase containment of the Sheep fire near Wrightwood, and by Wednesday evening, June 15, it was 85% contained.
The weather aided firefighters.
“Low winds and cooler temperatures was helpful for our fire crews to really increase containment figures and work on mop-up operation,” said Mike McClintock, battalion chief for the San Bernardino County Fire Department.
The fire started Saturday night, June 11, in the forest. Windy conditions on Sunday resulted in the fire growing exponentially and led to 300 people being evacuated. Those evacuation orders and the evacuation warnings for the Wrightwood area were lifted Tuesday night.
The cause of the blaze is under investigation. No structures were burned.
MAP: Where the Sheep fire is burning in the San Gabriel Mountains
The Sheep fire was 35% contained Tuesday night and was reported to be 997 acres. Burning in the San Gabriel Mountains for the past five days, the fire’s size decreased to 865 acres by Wednesday.
The change in size is due to better mapping, according to Jim Mackensen, a spokesman for the U.S. Forest Service. They used infrared mapping as well as “ground truthing” where people walked the ground with GPS, he said.
The part of the fire not contained is in steep, rocky terrain, Mackensen said. He described it as a very cliff-like area in the forest.
The fire isn’t moving, he said. It did not grow Tuesday night.
“It’s not growing. We are watching it,” Mackensen said.
On Wednesday, hotshot firefighter and helicopter crews helped extinguish a couple of hot spots along the fire, according to the Angeles National Forest. Night crews were going to continue working to find the hot spots scattered throughout the fire’s perimeter, the U.S. Forest Service said.
Highway 2 reopened Wednesday afternoon being closed between Desert Forest Road and Wright Mountain Road, according to Caltrans.
UPDATE:
Our guardrail, sign, and tree crews expedited work today and fixed all of SR-2's safety sensitive items for safe travel ahead of schedule! These damages were due to the #SheepFire that started near Wrightwood this past Saturday. SR-2 is now fully open!! #Caltrans8 pic.twitter.com/bEn6yTbqCa
— Caltrans District 8 (@Caltrans8) June 15, 2022
Mountain High Resort, which closed Sunday, reopened Wednesday.
The fire knocked out power and internet at the resort, according to John McColly, Mountain High’s VP of sales and marketing.
“We had to close due to lack of power,” he said. The resort got power back Tuesday.
The Sheep fire didn’t come close to the resort, McColly said.
“It was more threatening the town of Wrightwood than the resort,” he said.
He thanked the firefighters.
“They knocked it down and prevented what could have been a disaster,” McColly said.
As of Wednesday, 653 firefighters are still fighting the Sheep Fire.
Staff writer Quinn Wilson contributed to this report.