Blaze hope as temperatures drop below zero

For the first time in days, firefighters took a break from battling a massive blaze creeping eastward toward the mountain resort town of Big Bear Lake, California, as a welcome chill helped their cause and temperatures were expected to drop below 0C.

Hundreds of firefighters were resting overnight, recharging before returning to the blazes today.

Others continued bulldozing buffer zones around mountain communities.

Fog, lower temperatures and lighter winds since Thursday have helped firefighters make progress against fires that have killed 20 people, destroyed more than 3,300 homes and burned about 750,000 acres across southern California over the past week.

Some 15,000 people have been evacuated from Big Bear Lake, a resort town north-east of Los Angeles that is the only major community still threatened.

The so-called Old Fire had scorched nearly 95,000 acres and moved to within miles of Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains by Friday night.

But its spread had slowed and the fire was 25% contained. It remained west of the small mountain community of Green Valley, about five miles from Big Bear Lake.

Pat Shreffler, a firefighter in charge of tracking the fire’s movements, said thick fog and smoke have created visibility problems.

“We’ve had difficulty knowing exactly where all the fire is, but it’s moving slow with low flames,” he said.

Up to six inches of snow was expected to fall in the mountains by tonight, as unseasonably cold weather moved into the region. Winds gusting to 30 mph were also forecast.

“This kind of weather is not going to put this thing out but it’s slowing it down,” Shreffler said. “It’s looking better, but it’s a little soon to be talking about bringing people back up.” Forecasters said the heat and dry desert winds that whipped the flames into infernos could return early next week.

Meanwhile, the 275,000-acre Cedar Fire – the largest individual blaze in California history – was 65% contained after burning for six days in the mountains north-east of San Diego.

Firefighters said the threat had eased against Julian, a popular weekend getaway known for its vineyards and apple orchards. The blaze was expected to burn east into sparsely populated mountain and desert areas.

In all, seven fires were still burning across four counties.