All National Forests In Calif. Closed Through Sept. 17 Due To Wildfire Concerns
SAN BERNARDINO (CBSLA) — The United States Forest Service announced Monday that all national forests will temporarily close over wildfire concerns until September 17.
"If we don't have tens of thousands of people spread out amongst the forests in Southern California, we don't have that risk that our visitors are going to be trapped," said John Miller, a spokesperson with the Angeles National Forest.
The closure went into effect on Aug. 31 at 11:59 p.m. and will last through Sept. 17 at 11:59 p.m. However, with the Santa Ana winds expected, the forest closures could last longer.
"We made the difficult decision to temporarily close all National Forests in CA in order to better provide public & firefighter safety due to extreme fire conditions, the USFS said.
The San Bernardino National Forest is part of this closure.
As a result, State Route 2 from Big Pines west of Wrightwood to the 5 Freeway in Los Angeles County is shut down for the duration of the closure.