Wrightwood business owner recounts evacuation from Bridge Fire

Thousands of people in Wrightwood have been forced to flee from their homes and businesses after the Bridge Fire increased nearly tenfold in a single afternoon. 

After slowly burning 800 acres in the Angeles National Forest through the weekend, the wildfire exploded to 4,000 acres by Tuesday afternoon. 

“It got really smoky probably around 1:30 p.m.,” small business owner Robin Daly said. “By 2:45 p.m., it was extremely dark. By 3:15 p.m., I was texting my husband, telling him to get home and we got to get going.”

Daly has lived in the area’s mountain resort community for the past eight years and owns a vacation rental called the Wrightwood Hideaway. By 5:15, she and her family were on the road toward Upland.

“It was a little slow because fire personnel was coming into town from Highway 138 and Highway 2 but we were able to get down to the Inland Empire area, Upland area within 45 minutes,” Daly recalled.

At around 6 p.m., Cal Fire updated the size of the Bridge Fire to 34,247 acres and ordered everyone in Wrightwood to evacuate.

“It can happen fast; this is just a clear example of that  — we didn’t even get a warning,” Daly said.  “I don’t think anyone is ever prepared, but when the moment comes you have to do what you have to do to get your family out, your animals out and get out safely.”

Live streams at Mountain High Resort and other wildfire cameras showed the flames inching up the hillside toward the community. Other residents heard the sirens ringing through the town, while authorities played a message on loudspeakers telling people to leave. 

The flames continued throughout the night as firefighters tried to contain the inferno. With resources being shared to fight three significant fires that had hit four Southern California counties, the crews in the Angeles National Forest requested help from Northern California and out-of-state agencies. 

“These three simultaneous fires are stressing resources for the fire department, ” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony Marrone said while his department tried to contain the Bridge Fire. “We’re asking for resources from Northern California and adjoining states.”

After getting to Upland, Daly finally had a moment to digest everything she had experienced.

“It’s extremely heartbreaking because the reason I started this business was to share this town with other people,” Daly said. “We’re all just kinda devastated, all just kind of busy packing our stuff up. You caught me at the right time we finally got to sit down and eat a little bit.”