Crews Make Progress Against 900-Acre Wildfire Near Highland

HIGHLAND (CBSLA.com) – Firefighters continued to battle a 902-acre wildfire burning north of the city of Highland in San Bernardino County which temporarily forced evacuations Tuesday.

The Mart Fire burning near Highway 330 and Highland Avenue was 15 percent contained as of 7:48 a.m. Wednesday, according to the U.S. Forest Service.

The Mart Fire, named such because of its proximity to a Walmart store, broke out at 3:18 p.m. Tuesday. Warm, dry conditions, high winds, low humidity and steep terrain was making for a difficult firefight. The blaze was burning through chaparral.

With flames getting close to homes in the hills, mandatory evacuations were ordered for several hours Tuesday for homeowners east of Orchard Road, north of Highland Avenue and west of Church Street. Those orders were lifted Tuesday evening, and no evacuations were in place as of Wednesday morning, USFS reported. Highway 330 was fully reopened Tuesday night as well.

No structures were damaged and there were no reported injuries from the fire, the cause of which is under investigation.

560 firefighters were assigned to the blaze, along with six air tankers and five choppers. USFS, San Bernardino County Fire and CAL Fire were among the many agencies battling the fire.