Lightning could worsen wildfire east of LA already threatening 35,000 homes and buildings

HIGHLAND, Calif. (AP) — An out-of-control wildfire in the foothills of a national forest east of Los Angeles threatened ten of thousands of buildings and forced hundreds of residents to flee Sunday amid a days-long heat wave of triple-digit temperatures.

The so-called Line Fire was burning along the edge of the San Bernardino National Forest, about 65 miles (105 kilometers) east of Los Angeles. As of Sunday morning, the blaze had charred about 27 square miles (70 square kilometers) of grass and chaparral, leaving a thick cloud of dark smoke blanketing the area.

The fire burned so hot Saturday that it created its own thunderstorm-like weather systems of pyroculumus clouds, which could bring more challenging conditions such as gusty winds and lightning strikes, according to the National Weather Service. Firefighters also faced steep terrain, which limited their ability to control the blaze, officials said. The fire remained uncontained Sunday afternoon.

County officials, who declared an emergency Saturday evening, issued evacuation orders for Running Springs, Arrowbear Lake, areas east of Highway 330 and other regions.

Running Springs resident Steven Michael King said he had planned to stay to fight the fire and help his neighbors until Sunday morning, when the fire escalated. He had prepped his house to prevent fire damage but decided to leave out of fear smoke could keep him from finding a way out later.

"It came down to, which is worse, being trapped or being in a shelter?” he said outside an evacuation center Sunday. “When conditions changed, I had to make a quick decision, just a couple of packs and it all fits in a shopping cart.”

Joseph Escobedo said his family has lived in Angelus Oaks for about three years and has never had to evacuate for wildfire. His family, with three young children, was among the remaining few who haven’t left the area as of Sunday afternoon.

“It’s kind of frightening with the possibility of losing your home and losing everything we worked really hard for,” Escobedo said as his family packed up the essentials to leave. ”It’s hard to leave and not be sure if you’re gonna be able to come back.”

Arrowbear Lake resident Michael Lee said he left his home with his dog Saturday afternoon. Lee, a photographer, had turned back to retrieve a camera and didn't get to the evacuation center in Highland until nearly seven hours later.

“I wanna get back to home,” Lee said sitting in his car outside the evacuation center. “The triple-digit weather down here is nasty.”

State firefighters said three firefighters had been injured and more than 35,000 structures were threatened, including single and multi-family homes and commercial buildings. Thunderstorms expected later in the day could make it even more challenging to rein in the fire.

“Afternoon thunderstorms could cause new ignitions and potentially influence activity around the fire perimeter,” state firefighters said in a Sunday morning update. “Hot and dry conditions mixed with thunderstorms are expected to challenge firefighters for the next few days.”

The affected area is near small mountain towns in the San Bernardino National Forest where Southern California residents ski in the winter and mountain bike in the summer. Running Springs is on the route to the popular ski resort town of Big Bear.

Joe Franco, a worker at Noah's Restaurant in the downtown section of San Bernardino, said his friends in the surrounding evacuation zones were gearing up to leave at a moment’s notice. Smoke from the fire had already blanketed downtown San Bernardino, Franco said.

“They’re just kind of hanging on tight and getting their stuff ready to move,” Franco said of his friends. ”Normally they're here, but a lot of people are not coming today."

The fire prompted Redlands Unified School District to cancel Monday classes for roughly 20,000 students.

Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency for San Bernardino County Saturday night.

A small vegetation fire that started Sunday afternoon in Clearlake City, 110 miles (117 kilometers) north of San Francisco, was forcing roughly 4,000 people to evacuate and burning structures. Officials said at least 30 homes and commercial buildings were on fire. Firefighters said they were gaining ground against the blaze Sunday afternoon.

More firefighters were expected to arrive in San Bernadino County Sunday. State officials said vegetation is critically dry in the area and temperatures reached more than 100 degrees (39 degrees Celsius) on Saturday, with relative humidity ideal for the fire to spread. The blaze began Thursday evening, and the cause is under investigation.

More than 600 firefighters were battling the fire, supported by water-dropping helicopters that hovered over homes and hillsides, along with other aircraft, according to state firefighters. Cal Fire officials didn’t return calls on Sunday seeking more information about three injured firefighters.

The fire produced coiling clouds of dense smoke, and flames could be seen cresting hillside ridges.

No homes or other structures had been damaged or destroyed.

The National Weather Service said downtown Los Angeles hit a high of 112 degrees Fahrenheit (44 Celsius) Friday, which marked the third time since 1877 that a temperature that high has been reached there.

Firefighters extinguish hot spots as the Boyles fire burns in Clearlake, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

A fire-fighting aircraft is in action at a forest fire on the Königsberg below the Brocken in the Harz Mountains, Germany, Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (Swen Pförtner/dpa via AP)

Firefighter Nolan Graham works to extinguish a smoldering garage as the Boyles fire burns in Clearlake, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Smoke is seen from the advancing Line Fire through a car window in Mentone, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Fire retardant coats Joel Ayon's car as he drives through a neighborhood impacted by the Boyles fire in Clearlake, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Firefighters battle the Boyles fire in Clearlake, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

Firefighter Nolan Graham sprays water around a scorched garage as the Boyles fire burns in Clearlake, Calif., on Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Noah Berger)

People watch as the Line Fire advances in Mentone, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

The Line Fire makes a run along a ridge Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, near Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Smoke from the advancing Line Fire rises above a ridge in Mentone in San Bernardino County, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Smoke from the advancing Line Fire rises above a ridge in Mentone in San Bernardino County, Calif., Sunday, Sept. 8, 2024. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A tree stands, burned after the Line Fire passed through Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Motorists line up in the outskirts of town as smoke from the Line Fire fills the air Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Wood posts along a railing on the side of a road smolders after the Line Fire swept through Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, near Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A burned landscape is left behind by the Line Fire, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Flames from the Line Fire rise over a hilltop Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, near Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Fire crews monitor the Line Fire, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

The Line Fire jumps highway 330 as an emergency vehicle is driven past Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, near Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Fire crews monitor the Line Fire, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Smoke rises from the Line Fire over the mountains Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Smoke rises from the Line Fire over the mountains Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Smoke from the Line Fire fills the air Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Fire crews monitor the Line Fire Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Highland, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Fire crews monitor the Line Fire Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Highland, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A water dropping helicopter hovers over a neighborhood as crews battle the Line Fire Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Highland, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

A cloud of smoke from the Line Fire rises over the mountains Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Running Springs, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Fire crews monitor the Line Fire Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Highland, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Fire crews monitor the Line Fire Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Highland, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

Evacuations ordered as wildfire burns in foothills of national forest east of LA

Evacuations ordered as wildfire burns in foothills of national forest east of LA

A helicopter drops water onto the Line Fire Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in Highland, Calif. (AP Photo/Eric Thayer)

NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump claimed without evidence Monday that President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris' comments that he is a threat to democracy had inspired the latest apparent attempt on his life, despite his own long history of inflammatory campaign rhetoric and advocacy for jailing or prosecuting his political enemies.

With the election now just 50 days away and early ballots already being mailed out in some places, this year’s presidential campaign was among the most turbulent in American history even before Sunday’s apparent assassination attempt. Trump was safe after the incident in Florida and praised the Secret Service for protecting him but didn't shy away from blaming his opponents.

“Their rhetoric is causing me to be shot at, when I am the one who is going to save the country and they are the ones that are destroying the country — both from the inside and out,” Trump said in comments to Fox News Digital.

The Republican former president's statements are a sharp departure from how he reacted after an assassination attempt in July during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in which a bullet grazed his ear.

Then, Trump called for national unity, saying in a social media post that “it is more important than ever that we stand United.” A few days later, though, the former president returned to his usual commentary where he has sharply criticizes Democrats and relishes political bombast.

While authorities continue to investigate the motives of both the gunman in Pennsylvania and the person arrested Sunday in Florida, Trump has made clear that he sees attempts on his life as politically motivated — and blames his rivals for them.

That's despite Trump himself drawing repeated criticism for his rhetoric. He has talked about prosecuting his political rivals and alleged without evidence that Democrats have brought the felony cases against him for political reasons.

In a post on his social media site on Monday, Trump again claimed that he had been the target of politically motivated attacks, writing that the left “has taken politics in our Country to a whole new level of Hatred, Abuse, and Distrust.” He said “it will only get worse” and then veered into comments about immigration, even though there is no evidence the person arrested in connection with the apparent assassination attempt was an immigrant.

That follows the former president during last week's debate and in the days after it amplifying false rumors that Haitian immigrants in Ohio are abducting and eating pets. The community days later evacuated schools and government buildings amid bomb threats, adding to the sense of an especially unstable and tense moment in America even before Sunday’s stunning development.

Biden, by contrast, sought to steer clear of politics. He decried the apparent assassination attempt and said on Monday that America must work to stop the scourge of political violence.

“America has suffered too many times the tragedy of an assassin’s bullet,” Biden said at the start of an address to the National HBCU Week Conference in Philadelphia. “It solves nothing. It just tears the country apart. We must do everything we can to prevent it and never give it any oxygen.”

Biden in his speech added that Ronald Rowe, the acting director of the Secret Service, was in Florida “assessing what happened and determining whether any further adjustments need to be made to ensure” Trump’s safety.

After Trump's shooting in Pennsylvania, Biden initially called on the nation to lower the political temperature, though he, too, eventually pivoted back to criticizing Trump as a threat to the nation's founding principles.

Rice University historian Douglas Brinkley said Sunday's “deeply troublesome” event coming on top of an already dramatic year with an election looming has created “a kind of uncertainty across the land.”

Brinkley said, “2024 has just unspooled in a chaotic and frightful fashion. It’s impossible for anybody to get footing in their daily lives with a news cycle that is so constantly grim and absurd.”

Trump had already been scheduled to spend Monday at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida, according to a person familiar with his schedule. That now includes a briefing in person from Rowe, who is leading the Secret Service after its director resigned following the Pennsylvania shooting, according to the person, who was not authorized to speak publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity. Rowe arrived in West Palm Beach on Monday morning.

On Monday night, Trump is expected to speak about cryptocurrency live on the social media site X for the launch of his sons’ crypto platform, followed by an expected return to the campaign trail on Tuesday for a town hall in Flint, Michigan. He has appearances later in the week in New York, Washington and North Carolina.

Harris, meanwhile, was meeting with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters at the 1.3 million-member group’s headquarters in Washington as the Democratic presidential nominee hopes to lock yet another labor union’s endorsement. She was scheduled on Tuesday to campaign in swing-state Pennsylvania and planned later in the week to speak in Washington, Michigan and Wisconsin.

Harris' husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, was planning to attend campaign receptions in Washington and New York on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Their returns to the campaign trail are likely to be overshadowed by questions about the armed man engaged by Secret Service agents at the former president’s Florida golf course. The FBI was leading the investigation and working to determine any motive.

Beyond the first attempt on Trump’s life when he was grazed by a bullet at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, the campaign was whipsawed over the past six months by Trump’s historic criminal trial and conviction; the crisis and eventual end of Biden’s reelection campaign after his floundering debate performance; and Harris taking his place, fundamentally shifting the race.

In August, Trump’s campaign disclosed it had been hacked and said Iranian actors had stolen and distributed sensitive internal documents. The Justice Department is preparing criminal charges in connection with the hack.

Trump's blaming the Democrats for saying he is a threat to American democracy is a theme his allies have also picked up on, seeking to link those arguments to Sunday's detention of a suspect. Investigators have not commented on the suspect's potential motives.

Republican strategist David Urban, a Trump ally, said it was too soon to know how that might affect the days and weeks ahead in the campaign, but in his conversations with those in Trump’s orbit, he was picking up a deep sense of shock and uncertainty.

“We’ve said unprecedented so many times this year," Urban said. “I don’t know if we can even say the word anymore.”

Weissert reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Ayanna Alexander in Philadelphia, Steve Peoples in New York and Adriana Gomez Licon in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., contributed to this report.

A newspaper is displayed in a vehicle outside of the Mar-a-Lago estate after the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump Monday, Sept. 16, 2024, in Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky)

Police officers direct traffic near Trump International Golf Club after the apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump in West Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday, Sept. 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Terry Renna)

FILE - The motorcade for President Donald Trump arrives at Trump International Golf Club, Feb. 15, 2020, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

Photos that show an AK-47 rifle, a backpack and a Go-Pro camera on a fence outside Trump International Golf Club taken after an apparent assassination attempt of Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump, are displayed during a news conference at the Palm Beach County Main Library, Sunday. Sept. 15, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Fla. (AP Photo/Stephany Matat)