Wildfires run rampant through Southern California, causing concern for 5C community

All statistics in this story are updated as of Thursday, Sept. 19. For the latest information, click here.

California is no stranger to wildfires, with more than 7,500 wildfires tearing through the state in 2023, and 2024 being no different. Around the 5Cs, this year’s fire season has led to worsened air quality, discussions around canceling in-person activities and speculations about a possible campus evacuation order.

The Bridge Fire has been the most significant threat to the Claremont Colleges located just northwest of the campuses and is currently the largest active fire in Southern California. Since the fire started in Glendora on Monday, Sept. 9, it has burned over 54 thousand acres in San Bernardino and Los Angeles Counties.

On Tuesday, Sept. 10, the rapid spread of the Bridge fire prompted local officials to issue an evacuation warning for northern Claremont.  At the same time, students received warning notifications concerning the possibility of being evacuated.

Campus Safety responded to student concerns of potential evacuations that same day. 

“Campus Safety is aware that many individuals on campus are receiving push notifications advising them to be prepared for possible evacuation,” they said in a safety notification. “At this time, there is no immediate evacuation order in effect for our campus.”

In addition to the Bridge fire, there are two other major fires in the vicinity: the Line Fire in San Bernardino County — which started on Sept. 5 and has burned 39 thousand acres — and the Airport Fire in Orange County, which started on Sept. 9, and has burned 23 thousand acres.

On Wednesday, Sept. 11, a Campus Safety notification acknowledged the presence of the two fires but emphasized that they posed little threat to the 5Cs.

“The Line Fire in San Bernardino County and the Airport Fire in Orange County continued to burn and are a considerable distance from our campus but may impact our faculty and staff who live throughout the region,” they said in a 5C-wide email. “Whether or not you are directly affected, staying informed is crucial for our collective well-being.”

CMC’s Vice President for Student Affairs Diana “DT” Graves CM ‘98, a longtime resident of Southern California, commented on her fears of potential evacuation.  

“I’ve seen several serious local wildfires in the 30 years I have been living in Claremont,” she said. “While it’s encouraging that the colleges have never been evacuated in that time, we always presume that could be a possibility and plan accordingly.”

In a press release, the Claremont Colleges Services (TCCS) disclosed the procedure for if the 5Cs were placed under an evacuation order.

They said that upon notification from Incident or Unified Command, who would identify evacuation locations based on the issues and circumstances, Campus Safety would transmit an Emergency Notification for evacuation. Then, the campus Emergency Managers, Campus Safety and Claremont College leadership would provide additional guidance to safely evacuate community members.

TCCS said that they worked closely with Campus Safety to determine what information to share with the community regarding the wildfires and when to share it. 

“It was determined that information about the fires and air quality and how to access specific details would be useful for our community — especially students new to the Claremont community and parents hearing the news but uncertain of the proximity or impact on the [Claremont Colleges] community,” TCCS said in the release.

There were concerns that the smoke from the Bridge Fire would affect the surrounding area’s air quality. The Air Quality Index (AQI) indicates how clean or polluted the air is in a given area. The values of the index run from 0 to 500, and are divided into six categories, ranging from ‘good’ to ‘hazardous.’ The highest 10-minute average AQI reported was near Harvey Mudd College at 251, with an average of 246.5 on September 9th at 7:20pm.

Due to the poor air quality, Professor Russel Knight, lecturer of music at Scripps College, moved his class to zoom. 

“If it was as bad where they lived as it was for me, where I lived, then I wouldn’t want them going outside either,” Knight said.

Commuting to the Claremont Colleges involved crossing areas close to the wildfires for some students, staff and faculty who live in the nearby regions.

“I actually saw the flames from the Line Fire on my commute,” Knight said. “We have wildfires all the time, but I’d never actually seen the flames.”

For some students, especially freshmen and transfers who are from out-of-state, this season’s wildfires were a shock.

“I knew there were wildfires in California, but it’s always been something you heard about on the news, it’s never something that’s impacted me directly,” Sloan Newlin SC ‘28, a freshman from Illinois, said. “And then to go from that to seeing the smoke in the air — oh my gosh.” 

Newlin said she felt that the intensity of September’s wildfires will stick with her for the rest of her time at the 5Cs. 

“Even though this has happened in the first three weeks of me being here, I know fires like this aren’t normal or to be expected,” Newlin said. “I’m gonna look back and be like, ‘wow, that was crazy.’”