A cooling trend is impacting Southern California as three raging wildfires continue to burn throughout the region.
That includes the Line Fire that’s scorching the San Bernardino National Forest.
San Bernardino’s Air Base, also known as one of the largest air tanker bases in the country, is equipping aircraft to combat three growing wildfires burning throughout Southern California.
Although the region is experiencing a cooling trend, Fire Behavior Analyst, Brian Newman with Cal Fire explains that Thursday’s cooler temperatures created more smoke causing limitations for air tankers.
"It’s not burning as hot, so it's not burning as complete, and so it's creating more smoke. And as that smoke lifts into the air, especially colder air that we're having, it doesn't lift up and go out and away from the area," said Newman.
Difficulties in clearing the smoke made it harder for aircraft to take to the skies.
"It really narrows that window of the availability of time for the aircraft to fly during the day," said Newman.
All of the air tankers at the San Bernardino Air Base are being loaded with retardant, one of the most effective suppressants on the fire line.
Joe Wattles, Captain of Tanker 41 worked primarily on the Bridge Fire Thursday. He agreed that the conditions surrounding the Line Fire were not favorable.
"It's really smoky over there," said Wattles. "When the conditions get too bad and it's unsafe to continue operations, we won't fly."
As more than 100,000 acres continue to burn across Southern California, fire crews are sharing their aerial resources prioritizing the safety of nearby residents and their homes.
"There's a lot of work to be done out there. As you can see, there are many areas where we just don't have the control lines yet," added Newman.
Helicopters were still in use Thursday at the Line Fire dropping thousands of gallons of water over the growing flames.
Newman also anticipates crews will be working for a minimum of 10 days to extinguish flames.
