A firefighter who was injured while working a fast-burning brush fire suffered a broken leg when a large rock tumbled on him, fire officials said Monday.
The firefighter, whose name was not released, was on the U.S. Forest Service crew at the brush fire, which occurred Sunday afternoon in the Mojave River Basin off of Highway 173, said Capt. Mike Sweeney from the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.
He was injured at about 8:30 p.m. while attending a briefing on the side of a hill and taken by air ambulance to Loma Linda University Medical Center, Sweeney said.
The fire was fully contained at about midnight and burned about 80 acres, including 10 in the San Bernardino National Forest, Sweeney said.
On Monday, firefighters were still mopping up the mess the blaze left, Sweeney said.
"We're expecting full control of the fire at 6 p.m.," Sweeney said. "A total of eight engine companies, four hand crews, one helicopter and three water tenders are mopping up the hot spots."
The fire was fueled by gusty winds and hot weather, Hesperia Division Chief Mike Snow said.
Although an exact cause of the fire is unknown, Capt. Dan Frias of CDF said cigarette butts and shotgun shells were found near the fire's origin, about 100 feet from a residence.
The San Bernardino County Fire Department, the U.S. Forest Service, the Hesperia Fire District and CDF helped fight the conflagration that started at about 5 p.m. Sunday.
It took a total of 30 fire engines with nearly 200 firefighters, two hand crews, two helicopters and a bulldozer to contain the fire, Snow said.
