04:02 PM MST on Friday, September 30, 2005

The Press-Enterprise

An air-and-ground assault is under way to keep a fire away from the San Bernardino Mountains town of Angelus Oaks, where some residents chose to remain behind despite an evacuation order.

As an aerial tanker and helicopter made drops on the fire down the mountain from the community, 15 fire engine crews stood by amid Angelus Oaks' approximately 360 homes in case flames reach the town.

More than 300 firefighters, plus 14 air tanker and helicopter crews, are trying to prevent a 450-acre fire from spreading toward the town, which straddles Highway 38 midway between Redlands and Big Bear Lake.

Containment was at 10 percent for the Thurman Fire, which apparently was started by an overheated tire that came off a car.

During a morning briefing, officials said the key defense today will be to keep the blaze from surging up a brushy creek bed.

"It's at the end of a gun barrel," said District Ranger Gabe Garcia of the U.S. Forest Service. "The creek leads right up there."

An assault by eight air tankers and six helicopters is aimed at preventing the fire from spreading.

"What's really scary is that there's dead trees and brush all through there--60 percent mortality and some pockets of 100 percent, Garcia said. "It was one of the hardest hit areas during the (six-year) drought."

Roughly 80 percent of the residents complied with the Thursday evacuation order or never got home from work, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Sgt. Brad Toms said. "We had about 10 to 20 flat refusals," he added. About 200 people were believed to be in the community when the fire broke out Thursday.

Several homes in the town are vacation cabins. Last night authorities knocked on all the doors and found 110 of the homes occupied, and people in 14 of those homes declined to leave.

Residents who stayed behind offered various reasons for not evacuating.

"It's just easier to stay at home with the animals and young kids, especially when they're not your animals," said Marilyn Richter, who was walking a neighbor's collie.

Her neighbor wasn't able to get home Thursday night due to the evacuation order that closed Highway 38 leaving from the San Bernardino Valley, where many mountain residents work.

"We've been very fortunate around here. We've had fires, but small fires--lightning fires," said Chuck Cannon, 77, who has lived in Angelus Oaks for 30 years.

The last blaze to hurt the town was the 1970 Bear Fire that destroyed five homes on its southern outskirts.

"I don't think it's that dangerous," Cannon said of the current fire. "Anything can happen, but...they're more prepared than they were in the past, I think. They've posted engines throughout the town and they can pounce on it immediately.

"I think they learned a lot from (the catastrophic Old Fire) two years ago."

But that fire is exactly what prompted some residents to stay put.

"The last time they evacuated they did it prematurely, because the fire never came up here," Charles Havens, 28, said of the Old Fire.

Zack Zacharias added two more reasons for staying: He figures he can always drive north to the Big Bear Valley and many residents know how to use forestry roads for alternate escape routes.

"If it flares up and starts getting close, we're all packed up," Zacharias said. "We're not stupid, we're just hesitant."

Garcia said the fire was caused by a tire that flew off a vehicle along Highway 38 near the Thurman Flats picnic area. The fire was reported at about 1:30 p.m. Thursday.

"There's a lot of heat in a tire," Garcia said. The car was gone when investigators arrived, but Garcia said they found pieces of the steel-belted tire.

One firefighter was hurt Thursday when a bucket-sized rock rolled downhill and hit him. His injuries did not appear to be serious.

Among the best news for firefighters today is the weather forecast.

"It's generally getting a little cooler," fire behavior analyst Bob Eisele said during a 7 a.m. briefing at the firefighter staging area in Yucaipa Regional Park.

Temperatures were forecast to go no higher than 90 degrees with afternoon winds of 10 to 15 miles per hour with gusts to 20 mph, Eisele said. Humidity of 10 to 15 percent was forecast.

Two evacuation centers -- St. Joseph's Catholic Church in Big Bear Lake and the Jerry Lewis Community Center in Highland -- were set up to take evacuees from the Thurman Fire, but earlier today neither location reported anyone staying there.

Reported by staff writers Richard Brooks and Rich De Atley