Schools Closed For Second Day As Firefighters Battle Snow Summit Blaze

BIG BEAR LAKE (AP) — Schools were closed for a second day in the Southern California mountain community where crews battled a small but smoky wildfire burning through timber near a popular ski resort.

Firefighters held the blaze in Big Bear Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains to 100 acres. It was 50 percent contained.

All schools within the Bear Valley Unified School District remained shut Tuesday because of poor air quality. Several mountain roads were off-limits.

Evacuations were lifted Monday for up to 500 homes, many of them cabins and vacation houses, near Snow Summit resort about 100 miles east of Los Angeles.

In San Luis Obispo County, firefighters reached 85 percent containment of a blaze that charred more than 5 square miles and prompted evacuations near the small town of Santa Margarita.

To the northeast, crews made headway against a huge wildfire burning for nearly a month in the Sierra foothills east of Fresno. The 81-square-mile blaze was 17 percent contained.

Fresno County supervisors on Tuesday planned to discuss declaring a local emergency to get the state to help with costs to fight the stubborn fire.