At several locations in the San Bernardino Mountains this week there were mud flows that inundated the road and adjacent areas, in some cases creating flows that nearly buried several vehicles.
Indeed, public safety officials and residents as late as today are on the lookout for cars that may be covered by mud in their entirety, perhaps trapping motorists inside their cars and putting their lives in danger.
In particular, along Highway 330, where large swathes of land were denuded of trees, chaparral, bushes and the natural groundcover as a consequence of the Line Fire, which began as the result of arson on September 5 and was still smoldering as late as October 9, there were mudflows as high as four-and-a-half feet and perhaps higher. Photos have been posted to the internet depicting several cars that were either on Highway 330 or its shoulder enveloped in mud reaching nearly to the level of the front hood atop those cars’ engine compartment. One photo showed mud well above the level of what looked to be a small sports car’s hood to a point on the cars’ side windows and front windshield six or seven inches from the roof.
According to available information that has not been verified by the Sentinel, which did not venture into the area both because the roads to access the area were closed and because it prudently wanted to avoid becoming enmucked itself, as many as a dozen vehicles that were traveling on Highway 30 late in the day on Thursday February 13 were hit by a cascade of mud progressing down the mountain in along a span of the highway from near the City Creek Ranger Station to approximately three miles north of that point. This left several motorists and their passengers pushed off of the highway altogether or shunted to its side, trapped in their vehicles, which had neither the power nor the traction thereafter to be able to move. Fortunately for them, the close proximity of the ranger station provided for a relatively fast discovery of their predicament and a response. There was concern that the mud, which continued to flow downhill with the force of gravity, might have taken some vehicles with it. A survey seemed to show that was not the case, as there were boulders and other immovable objects against which any vehicles moved that far would have likely lodged.
The San Bernardino County Fire Department, using ladders as a makeshift walkway over the mud were able to get to the vehicles and pull the passengers to safety.
Those cars stuck too deeply in the mud could not be moved and will require a large tow truck to get into the area in order to pull them out. Those tow trucks as of this afternoon were not able to access the area and may not be able to get to the location until a bulldozer is brought in first to scrape the highway.
Approximately 13 miles of Highway 330, between Highland Avenue in Highland to Live Oak Drive about two miles west of Running Springs, remains shut down as of this evening. Caltrans could offer no loose or firm estimate for the highway’s reopening.