Big BearNews

It was a week dominated by fire — in nearly every sense. Dispatch logs recorded a string of fire calls across the valley, from a response at Big Bear Dam on July 8 to incidents near Canyon Crest Drive on the Fourth of July and a small vegetation fire in Sugarloaf the following day. A vegetation fire was also reported near Allen Way and Sunset Road in Lucerne Valley, and crews were called to the intersection of Vale Drive and Baldwin Lake Road in Big Bear City on Thursday evening. Details on several of these calls remain unconfirmed pending official statements.

By Friday, wildfire smoke from elsewhere had settled over the mountains, prompting a South Coast AQMD air quality alert through Saturday — residents are advised to limit outdoor exposure while fine particle levels are elevated.

On the governance front, the Big Bear Lake Fire Protection District voted to dissolve its joint powers agreement with San Bernardino County Fire, a move that could reopen the Moonridge and Boulder Bay stations. The City of Big Bear Lake and Big Bear City CSD each have their own accounts of why the partnership ended, and that story is still unfolding.

Amid the heavier news, there were bright spots: eaglet Sandy officially fledged from the Big Bear nest on the Fourth of July, with sibling Luna close behind — though Friends of Big Bear Valley raised concerns about whether the holiday fireworks show came too close to the newly flying chicks. Mountain Transit also launched its free "Trolley to Trails" service for the summer, and Snow Summit's free kids' program at Biggie's Adventure Outpost is running select dates through fall. Looking ahead, BVES has scheduled two brief planned power outages on July 22 and 23 — each expected to last under five minutes.