The Lake Fire (the larger of the two fires) is burning in the northern portion of the San Gorgonio Wilderness. All hiking trails into the San Gorgonio Wilderness Area have been closed due to the proximity of the fire to these trails. The Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) is closed from Whitewater Preserve to Onyx Summit. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. It is approximately 17,305 acres in size and burning in old-growth timber in the San Bernardino Mountains that fire officials said Friday hasn't burned in decades. Since the area hasn't burned, there is lot of fuel, and in a record drought year, that can make the firefighting efforts more difficult. It is currently 21% contained. There are approximately 500 structures threatened, however no structures are believed to have been damaged or destroyed at this time. The Morongo Valley and Pioneertown Areas have been inundated with smoke which remains in the area. The Southern California Air Quality Management District has issued a smoke advisory for those areas, however, no evacuations have been ordered. Overall the growth of the fire has slowed. High Temperatures and westerly winds will continue to push smoke towards the east, impacting residents in the surrounding areas.
The San Gorgonio Fire is about 10 acres in size and is located northeast of San Gorgonio Mountain in the Fish Creek Drainage. It was reported just before midnight on May 5, 2015. The cause is under investigation and there is no threat to any communities, campsites or trails at this time. Crews are constructing line around the fire with the support of aircraft dropping water and retardant as needed. Inciweb is no longer updating this fire.
This natural-color satellite image was collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard the Terra satellite on June 21, 2015. Actively burning areas, detected by MODIS's thermal bands, are outlined in red.
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