Southern California wildfire burns so intensely that it creates its own weather as it spreads, forcing evacuations

Thousands of Southern California residents were forced from their homes Saturday after an explosive wildfire grew thousands of acres in size in mere hours – and is burning so intensely that it is creating its own weather.

The Line Fire, which began about 53 hours ago in San Bernardino County, has burned more than 17,237 acres – up from nearly 7,000 acres just a few hours earlier.

About 4,800 homes have been affected by the evacuation order in the Running Springs and Arrowbear Lake areas as of Saturday evening, the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department told CNN. Hundreds more have been evacuated in the city of Highland.

The fire was at 0% containment on Saturday evening. It was first spotted at the base of the San Bernardino Mountains near Natural Parkland Trailhead early Thursday evening, according to fire officials.

The blaze is creating its own weather in the form of pyrocumulus clouds. These clouds can create erratic winds that push the fire outward, which is contributing to the fire’s spread.

If fires burn hot enough, the clouds can produce lighting and rain, called pyrocumulonimbus. They can reach heights of 50,000 feet and generate their own systems of thunderstorms.

The San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department placed several communities under precautionary evacuation warnings and have provided animal shelter services for pets and livestock in need of evacuation.

The agency expanded evacuation orders for some nearby areas Saturday evening as fire conditions worsened, it announced on X, formerly Twitter.

The American Red Cross set up an evacuation shelter at a local church Saturday for residents seeking refuge from the fire.

Multiple agencies from around the region including Cal Fire, the US Forest Service-San Bernardino National Forest, San Bernardino County Fire and San Bernardino County Sheriff are working together in managing the fire.

The Line Fire has grown more than 14 times in size in just over 30 hours, from just about 1,180 acres at 5 p.m. PT Friday afternoon to its size as of late Saturday night.

Adding to the list of natural disasters, a pair of earthquakes struck nearby Ontario, California, within a half hour of each other, jolting the already rattled region.

The first earthquake was recorded at 3.5 magnitude at 10 a.m. local time, and the next one was recorded at 3.9 magnitude, according to data from US Geological Survey. Residents living as far as Los Angeles felt the Saturday morning shake, according to USGS.

Meanwhile in neighboring Nevada, the Davis Fire – described by fire officials as a dangerous, wind-driven blaze – had burned around 1,500 acres by Saturday evening and destroyed at least six structures, Truckee Meadows Fire and Rescue said on X.

This comes as much of the Western region remains under heat alerts through the weekend with temperatures in Southern California ranging from 95° to 105° F, which is a 10° to 20°F above average weather pattern for the region.

CNN’s Ashley R. Williams contributed to this report.