Jim Fire 50% included; Explosives investigated as a possible cause

Marine engineers from Camp Pendleton detonated explosives in the Cleveland National Forest around the time of the Jim Fire Wednesday morning, authorities confirmed.

The fire, which has been burning for two days in the forest near the Riverside-Orange County border, was 50% contained and sustained at 553 acres as of Friday morning.

The official cause of the fire is still under investigation. Cleveland National Forest Service spokesman Nathan Judy acknowledged that the crews were in the forest at the time of the ignition.

“We’ve had crews working in the area — there’s a project going on in there — but the cause is still under investigation,” he said.

The blasts were part of a dam removal operation being conducted by the US Forest Service, Marine Corps and other federal agencies to restore forest wildlife habitats, as first reported by the desert sun.

In 2017, the project faced strong opposition from local residents and conservation groups who feared the demolition would clog streams with debris, kill aquatic wildlife and obliterate popular swimming holes.

According to a forest service, 81 dams will be removed as part of the project environmental assessment. A spokesman for Camp Pendleton did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Jim Fire ignited around 11:20 a.m. in the Holy Jim Canyon area of ​​the forest and quickly spread uphill, mushrooming from 10 to 400 acres in the first three hours.

No homes were threatened by the fire and no evacuations were ordered, officials said.

Like most states, Southern California experienced an exceptionally dry start to the year. January and February were the driest months on record.

The National Weather Service said the monitoring station closest to the fire, which is at a lower elevation than where the fire is burning, recorded just under 0.21 inches of rainfall in January and February, compared to the normal amount of about 6 inches.

Judy said the grasses were damp Wednesday but larger fuels like trees were drier. The fire risk on Wednesday was classified as “moderate,” he said.

Conditions helped fuel a second wildfire in the forest, which ignited Thursday but was quickly controlled.

Dubbed the San Juan Fire, the blaze ignited around 12:15 p.m. on State Route 74 near Sievers Canyon and grew to about 9 acres.

It was 90% contained as of Friday morning. The cause of the fire is also still under investigation.

Judy said about 250 personnel were still deployed to the Jim fire Friday, with hand crews and bulldozers laying containment lines on the ground and helicopters dropping water from above.

The outlook for the day was promising as a cool weather system moves into the area along with some clouds and rain.

“We will have air tankers on standby if they need them and also helicopters to dust hotspots,” he said. “But with precipitation expected that should help any smoldering areas over the fire.”