Thousands of people have fled their homes the Line Fire destroyed more than 90,000 acres and authorities arrested a man on suspicion of starting the massive blaze in Southern California.

Since the wildfire began around 6 p.m. Thursday, mandatory evacuations have been extended to several communities over the past week as the fire has grown in size. The first fire started in San Bernardino County, along Base Line and Aplin Streets in the town of Highland.

As of Wednesday morning, the fire was estimated at 36,481 acres and 18% contained, according to Cal Fire, or the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection. It is currently the fifth largest wildfire in California so far this year.

On Tuesday, authorities have announced Justin Wayne Halstenberg34, of Norco was arrested on suspicion of starting the fire.

The Line Fire is one of three major wildfires raging across multiple Southern California counties in recent days.

The fire on the bridge in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, which exploded in size this week, is currently the third-largest wildfire in the state so far this year. The last of the three, the Airport Fire, several houses destroyed Tuesday night, while it continued to spread. It is currently the seventh largest so far in 2024, according to updates from Cal Fire, current as of Wednesday morning.

Firefighters face an uphill battle

Over the past week, firefighters’ efforts against the Line Fire have been hampered by challenges including hot, dry conditions combined with steep, rugged terrain and even smoke from the fire creating clouds similar to those from thunderstorms. This wildfire-driven storm system has amplified winds that have fanned the flames and caused them to spread even further.

“The Line Fire continues to grow in steep terrain with difficult access, particularly in the Big Bear area,” Cal Fire officials said in an update just before 6 a.m. Wednesday. “Near-vertical slopes make it difficult to establish control lines.”

Last week, the fire surpassed 7,000 acres on Saturday, before quickly burning thousands more acres over the weekend and in the days that followed. More than 3,000 firefighters are battling the flames in air and ground operations, flying helicopters through thick smoke as bright red, actively burning flames tear through mountainsides.

Some structures were destroyed, damage is still being assessed, and three injuries were reported, authorities said. No fatalities were reported, San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus said Wednesday.

“We’re going to do our very best to keep it that way,” Dicus said. “The fire behavior in this fire — from the briefings we’ve had from our fire partners — is one of the strangest and let’s say ‘not typical’ in fire science, is what’s been explained to me.”

“And we’re constantly moving and flexing,” he said.

Evacuations expand as authorities warn: ‘Nothing is worth it’

On Tuesday, people in communities like Arrowbear Lake, Forrest Falls and Running Springs were just some of the residents facing mandatory evacuation orders, which have been expanded significantly over the past week.

“My advice to people who don’t want to leave is to get off the mountain,” said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Brent Pascua. “Nothing is worth it — your lives, your families’ lives are not worth it.”

“It’s just smarter to leave, get off the mountain before it becomes an order,” Pascua said, urging people to flee even if they’re only under a voluntary evacuation warning rather than a full-blown, mandatory order. “It’s better to do it early.”

According to Cal Fire, approximately 65,500 structures are still threatened as of Wednesday.

Jennifer Riser, who lives in the evacuated community of Runnings Springs, said it was “scary” waiting to hear if she would be forced to leave. She was soon told she had to go.

“We packed our cats up about an hour ago, and that was the order we were given,” Riser said Tuesday.

Last week, just a day after the fire broke out, people were still waiting to be told whether they needed to evacuate.

“We are still at the brink of the abyss, we are just waiting,” resident Diya Hirpara said Friday as she ran errands and tried to prepare.

Although firefighters initially managed to contain the fire within the San Bernardino National Forest, winds began to blow the fire toward homes, prompting the first round of mandatory evacuation orders to be issued Saturday as the fire crossed 17,000 acres that afternoon.

Arson suspect, two alleged burglars arrested

Law enforcement officials said they began investigating Halstenberg on Sept. 6 and found evidence in his home and vehicle linking him to the wildfire after serving a search warrant. Investigators have not said how they believe he started the fire.

“While we are still in the preliminary investigation phase, we believe this was intentional,” Sheriff Dicus said Wednesday.

Halstenberg worked for FedEx as a third-party delivery driver, said Detective Jacob Hernandez of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. Authorities have not identified a suspected motive behind the alleged arson.

According to Dicus, two other people have also been arrested on suspicion of breaking into an evacuated area.

He issued a stern warning to anyone looting houses where residents have fled and said police were on standby.

“We live in these communities, we’ve been evacuated as well, and we’re going to make sure the public knows that their homes are our homes,” Dicus said. “And I draw a line when it comes to this kind of thing. If you’re an opportunist in San Bernardino County and we catch you, you’re going to jail.”

Below is a list of evacuation orders. The latest information on road closures and more can be found here.

Mandatory evacuation orders

• The area east of Orchard Road to Cloverhill Drive from Highland Ave north to the foothills
• All undeveloped land east of Highway 330 to Summertrail Place and north of Highland Avenue
• Communities of Running Springs and Arrowbear Lake
• The community of Forrest Falls
• The Mountain Home Village Community
• The communities of Angelus Oaks, Seven Oaks and all the campgrounds and cabins in the area
• The areas north and east of Highland Avenue and Palm Avenue
• Green Valley Lake north of Highway 18 along Green Valley Lake Road
• Big Bear from the dam east to Wildrose Lane and the southern shoreline south to Bluff Lake Basin

Evacuation warnings

• From Calle Del Rio east to Highway 38 and from Greenspot Road north to the foothills
• From Highway 210 east to the foothills and from Greenspot Road north to the foothills
• The community of Green Valley Lake north of Highway 18 along Green Valley Lake Road
• The communities of Cedar Glen, Lake Arrowhead, Twin Peaks, Crestline and Valley of Enchantment
• The area from Garnet Street east to Bryant Street and Carter Street north to Mill Creek
• The area of ​​Big Bear Valley from the dam to Cactus Road
• Garnett Street east to Highway 38 and Mill Creek north to the foothills