A fast-moving wildfire burned through a hillside community in San Bernardino on Monday afternoon, engulfing homes and sending residents running.
The Edgehill fire erupted in the 3300 block of Beverly Drive on Little Mountain about 2:40 p.m., according to San Bernardino County fire officials, who called for 10 additional engines immediately when they arrived and reported at the time that the fire had already burned five acres.
Early reports said the fire had burned at least 100 acres. By about 6 p.m. county fire officials said the forward progress of the fire had been stopped, and that the blaze was holding at 54 acres with 25% contained.
The cause of the fire remains unclear, officials said, and damages estimates will be complied and released once completed.
Dramatic videos from the scene show at least three homes ablaze, with residents rushing to leave their burning properties amid blackened, smoke-filled skies.
An evacuation order has been issued for all residents south of Ridge Line Drive and north of Edgehill Road, west to and including Beverly Drive, and east to Circle Road. An evacuation center has been established at Marshall Elementary School, at 3288 N. G St. in San Bernardino.
Temperatures in San Bernardino soared to more than 100 degrees on Monday. The National Weather Service issued an excessive heat warning for the area until 11 p.m. Tuesday, saying conditions would be dangerously hot, with the thermometer expected to reach 110 degrees.
A resident uses a garden hose to help save a house on West Edgehill Road in San Bernardino on Monday afternoon.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)