A 100-acre brush and timber fire prompted the evacuation of about 400 homes south of Big Bear Lake on Sunday, Aug. 23, and the cancellation of classes for Big Bear Valley Unified School District schools on Monday.

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The fire began at 12:25 p.m. Sunday near two forest service roads, about a mile west of Snow Summit Mountain Resort and a half-mile south of Big Bear Elementary School. Flames burning through trees in the San Bernardino National Forest sent up a huge plume of smoke.

As of 10:20 p.m., the fire had burned 100 acres — with no growth since about 5:30 — and crews had dug containment lines around 30 percent of the perimeter. There was no estimate on when the fire would be fully contained.

MONDAY COVERAGE: Fire makes little movement overnight

Travis Mason, a spokesman for San Bernardino National Forest Service, said air resources would be grounded after dark, which is typical in all but the worst fires. He expected fire activity to be lessened overnight, which would allow ground crews to make more progress against the blaze.

“We have great ground resources, with crews and engines trying to make containment lines and attack the fire,” Mason said.

On Monday, the National Weather Service forecast for Big Bear Lake was 85 degrees with calm winds. There is a 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms on Tuesday — a mixed blessing, as rain can help firefighters but lightning can spark more fires. A small chance of precipitation lingers through Wednesday night.

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A mandatory evacuation order remains in place. The Forest Service said it was in effect for areas south of Pennsylvania Road, between Knickerbocker Road on the west and Thrush Drive.

Additionally, a voluntary evacuation is also in place for the area from Thrush Drive east to Summit Boulevard, between Brownie Lane on the north and Switzerland Drive on the south.

A Red Cross evacuation center has been set up at the Big Bear Convention Center, at the intersection of Big Bear Boulevard and Division Road. Displaced animals are being taken to the Devore Animal Shelter.

Four forest roads are closed: 2N06 (Radford), 1N54 (Clarks Grade), 2N93 (Wildhorse) and 2N10 (Skyline). Highway 18, which is Big Bear Boulevard near the lake, remains open, although Caltrans is on standby in case any mountain highways need to be closed, spokeswoman Terri Kasinga said.

The Deer, Boulder and Bluff Mesa campgrounds were closed. Several hiking trails in the area also are closed: Towne, Skyline, Champion Lodgepole Pine, Bluff Mesa, Grandview Point and Seven Oaks.

Big Bear Valley Unified School District, which started the school year in early August, will be closing all schools Monday with the exception of Fallsvale Elementary in Forest Falls. The closure is for student and staff safety, according to the district’s website.

At the height of the fire, flames burned to within a couple of hundred feet of homes, said Nick Bruinsma, spokesman for Big Bear Fire Department.

The situation was enough to worry even long-time mountain residents.

“When it’s threatening your home, it’s a pretty big deal,” said lifetime resident Steve Porter, whose Eureka Drive home is about a quarter-mile north of the fire. “This is about the closest we’ve ever been to a threatening fire.’

Porter readied his 1,500-gallon water tender – a construction truck built specifically to haul water – just in case. And he’d done considerable work cleaning pine needles and other flammable ground litter away from his home long before the fire.

“They pound that into the residents up here,” he said of fire-safety preparations. “I felt pretty confident that whatever embers blew, we could protect the house.”

Roughly 400 firefighters were assigned to the incident, said U.S. Forest Service spokesman Chon Bribiescas. They were backed up by eight large air tankers, a DC-10 that flew in from Fresno, and five firefighting helicopters.

Multiple fire agencies are assisting, including the San Bernardino County Fire Department, which sent a task force that sprays a fire-retardant gel on structures that are in imminent danger.

And the Snow Summit resort using its snow-making machines — which draw water out of Big Bear Lake — to help fight the fire as well, Mason said.

Staff writers Patrick O’Neill and Alex Groves contributed to this report.