San Bernardino County, CA, July 17, 2015—A fast-moving wildfire ignited near California Interstate 15 in the Cajon Pass in San Bernardino County, sending motorists fleeing from their cars. Pushed by hot winds gusting up to 40 mph, the fire jumped the freeway, destroying 40 vehicles. Firefighters from the U.S. Forest Service, the San Bernardino County Fire Department and CAL-FIRE worked to evacuate motorists from the area, while helicopters dropped water on the flames. Firehouse photographer Jeff Zimmerman was on scene to document the intensity of the situation.
Zimmerman describes how cars had stopped suddenly on the freeway in blinding smoke as the fire over took their position. “This near-deadly bottleneck of vehicles blocked other drivers from escaping the flames in their cars, so they had to abandon them and leave on foot,” he said. “As I walked toward the freeway, a large semi-truck erupted violently into a ball of flame. Helicopters were dropping water onto the wreckage of burnt hulls of vehicles to try and stop the flames from consuming other vehicles. Fixed-wing airtankers were dropping fire retardant onto the flanks of the blaze as the head pushed over the ridge top. It looked like something out of an apocalyptic event—definitely not your routine brush fire.
The fire then raced up a mountain, burning eight homes. The fire ultimately burned approximately 3,500 acres.
