Fire crews push toward containment on 160-acre Westward Fire in Banning

Fire crews made progress on the Westward Fire that broke out in Banning Wednesday afternoon. By Wednesday night, it smoldered at 160 acres with 10 percent containment.

The flames broke out at about 2:15 p.m. behind Banning High School. Crews at the time said thousands of acres were under threat.

Video showed chaos at the school as students were evacuated off campus. Nearby RV campground Banning Stagecoach KOA Journey was also evacuated. John Suzick, a full-time resident there, was urgently told to get out of his home.

"It was pretty brutal; you didn’t have no time to leave," Suzick said. "I was inside watching TV, doing some dishes and the cop showed up and pounded on the door and said, 'You gotta go now.''

Within hours, the fire had grown 10 times in size.

The fight from the air and hand crews on the ground stopped the inferno from ruthlessly churning up the mountain.

"This is great for the firefighters; they did tremendous work on stopping it from going up the hill," said CalFire Information Officer Richard Cordova. "Once you get up that hill there, it goes all the way up to Pinyon Pine area and that could be devastating for that community up there."

At one point, officials were concerned about the safety of those at the nearby Banning jail, Smith Correctional Facility, as the fire pushed east right toward it.

"Trying to evacuate those inmates that are in there; at the time, we sheltered them in place," Cordova said. "We had school buses already on standby just in case we had to evacuate that prison."

By late afternoon Wednesday, firefighters gained the upper hand – as well as the gratitude of those who could have lost everything.

"These guys kick ass; that’s all I know," Suzick said.

One firefighter suffered minor burns while trying to get the flames under control.

Highway 243 reopened Wednesday night after being closed in both directions.