Wildfire Threatens Historic US 66/91/395; Claims Historic Summit Inn

[Exit58]

I know this has been all over the news but it doesn't seem like there is a discussion here about it. The Blue Cut Fire in the Cajon Pass is threatening old Cajon Blvd (US 66, 91 and 395), and has already burned the historic Summit Inn to the ground. Very sad sight, that building was a relic from the 1950s and the business dates to the 1920s. It was just sold a few weeks ago to a new local owner.

[sparker]

Wow.  Another landmark gone because of wildfire.  These last several years have been devastating all over the state.  I used to drop in to the Summit Inn several times a year when I lived in Hesperia (they had good omelets!).  US 66 shields from just about every state traversed by that route were attached to the walls (they probably didn't survive either).  That wasn't the only landmark I used to frequent that has been affected by this drought/wildfire continuum -- last year, Harbin Hot Springs (in Lake County) fell victim to the huge "Valley" fire -- used to go there with my ex back in the late '80's to take advantage of the mineral baths. 

This Cajon Pass fire is likely to have halted rail traffic (both UP and BNSF) over the pass, disrupting both transcontinental and north-south in-state freight service; it will be interesting to read the rail journals over the next month or so to see how they rerouted or otherwise compensated for the service disruption.  I'll also bet that the CA 14/CA 58 alternate route to Barstow (along with the CA 138/18 "cutoffs") is seeing significantly increased use during I-15's closure! 

[Exit58]

Wow.  Another landmark gone because of wildfire.  These last several years have been devastating all over the state.  I used to drop in to the Summit Inn several times a year when I lived in Hesperia (they had good omelets!).  US 66 shields from just about every state traversed by that route were attached to the walls (they probably didn't survive either).  That wasn't the only landmark I used to frequent that has been affected by this drought/wildfire continuum -- last year, Harbin Hot Springs (in Lake County) fell victim to the huge "Valley" fire -- used to go there with my ex back in the late '80's to take advantage of the mineral baths. 

This Cajon Pass fire is likely to have halted rail traffic (both UP and BNSF) over the pass, disrupting both transcontinental and north-south in-state freight service; it will be interesting to read the rail journals over the next month or so to see how they rerouted or otherwise compensated for the service disruption.  I'll also bet that the CA 14/CA 58 alternate route to Barstow (along with the CA 138/18 "cutoffs") is seeing significantly increased use during I-15's closure!

All traffic including rail was cut off from the Cajon for about 2 days. Northbound 15 just reopened this morning according to the news. Unsure about the rail traffic. And regarding the 58/14/5 Alt, I believe that was the only route Caltrans marked as a detour. If you felt daring enough, I guess you could take SR 18 from Hesperia to San Bernardino or 18 to Running Springs and 330 to Highland, but then you're going through the mountains. I was driving that portion of Route 66 just a month or so ago and I wanted to stop in on the Summit Inn since I had never been, but time didn't allow. Definitely something I regret not doing now. It seems the only thing left standing was the sign, which makes the sign look like an eerie post-apocalyptic world. The new owners, who have only owned the property for a few weeks, plan to rebuild according to the San Bernardino Sun.

[okc1]

For those not familiar, this was 66/91/395

[Exit58]

For those not familiar, this was 66/91/395

Right sorry I'm so used to writing 66/99. My bad.

[Max Rockatansky]

Wow, glad I got my photos a couple years ago on top of the pass.  That friggin sucks, at least the Mojave section is still largely untouched.

[sparker]

I would guess that many of the 80K+ fire evacuees come from the ranch-style "mini-mansions" in Oak Hills just west of I-15 north of the pass.  When I lived in the general area back about 5-6 years ago, that was the priciest residential property in the high desert -- simply because it was (a) in the rolling hills rather than the flat/boring desert, and (b) it was 20-30 minutes closer to where the jobs were "over the hill" than most of Hesperia, Victorville, and Apple Valley.  Unfortunately, that area is hard to defend from wildfire -- most of the houses are on ridges between gullies -- and the gullies were generally full of ryegrass, sagebrush, and anything else that could serve as fuel -- and fire naturally travels uphill.  The saving grace is that the HOA's in that area almost uniformly specified Spanish-style tile roofs for the homes, giving it some resistance to sparks & embers.  Given the past record with fires in the area, I would not at all be surprised if, once the smoke clears, there will be a random selection of homes untouched intermixed with those that were destroyed or damaged -- more or less the luck of the draw!

[roadman]

Wow.  Another landmark gone because of wildfire.  These last several years have been devastating all over the state.  I used to drop in to the Summit Inn several times a year when I lived in Hesperia (they had good omelets!).  US 66 shields from just about every state traversed by that route were attached to the walls (they probably didn't survive either).  That wasn't the only landmark I used to frequent that has been affected by this drought/wildfire continuum -- last year, Harbin Hot Springs (in Lake County) fell victim to the huge "Valley" fire -- used to go there with my ex back in the late '80's to take advantage of the mineral baths. 

This Cajon Pass fire is likely to have halted rail traffic (both UP and BNSF) over the pass, disrupting both transcontinental and north-south in-state freight service; it will be interesting to read the rail journals over the next month or so to see how they rerouted or otherwise compensated for the service disruption.  I'll also bet that the CA 14/CA 58 alternate route to Barstow (along with the CA 138/18 "cutoffs") is seeing significantly increased use during I-15's closure!

All traffic including rail was cut off from the Cajon for about 2 days. Northbound 15 just reopened this morning according to the news. Unsure about the rail traffic. And regarding the 58/14/5 Alt, I believe that was the only route Caltrans marked as a detour. If you felt daring enough, I guess you could take SR 18 from Hesperia to San Bernardino or 18 to Running Springs and 330 to Highland, but then you're going through the mountains. I was driving that portion of Route 66 just a month or so ago and I wanted to stop in on the Summit Inn since I had never been, but time didn't allow. Definitely something I regret not doing now. It seems the only thing left standing was the sign, which makes the sign look like an eerie post-apocalyptic world. The new owners, who have only owned the property for a few weeks, plan to rebuild according to the San Bernardino Sun.

Word is that the wildfires have claimed both a trestle on Cajon Pass and a bridge on the Mojave Subdivision.  So, yes, it will be interesting to see how UP and BNSF reroute traffic.

[myosh_tino]

Word is that the wildfires have claimed both a trestle on Cajon Pass and a bridge on the Mojave Subdivision.  So, yes, it will be interesting to see how UP and BNSF reroute traffic.

Not knowing who owns what rail lines in so-cal, I would say the logical detour would be to divert rail traffic west from Barstow to Mojave (roughly following CA-58) and then south through Lancaster and Santa Clarita (roughly following CA-14).

[sparker]

That's probably what UP & BNSF are actually doing -- but it's likely that they're doing most if not all their freight movements during midday or in the middle of the night; Metro actually has priority rights to the tracks between L.A. and Palmdale for commuter operations, so between 5:30 to about 10 AM and 3 to 8 PM, moving 110-car container trains over that route would be problematic, to say the least.  And since there's no direct connection between NB UP and EB BNSF at Mojave, the process would entail parking the train in the small Mojave yard, moving the locomotives to the other end of the train, and then heading east or south from there.  Not terribly efficient, but it'd have to do during emergencies such as this.   

[sdmichael]

Once the fire closures are over, I plan to do a full survey of the area to inspect damage to the roadways and other appurtenances. The results will be posted on my site. It may be a few weeks, however.