cucamonga canyon

Looking west over Cucamonga Canyon, July 2005.

By Guy McCarthy

UPLAND - About 400 firefighters were assigned to a 200-acre blaze burning this afternoon on slopes scorched five years ago in the Grand Prix Fire, according to Cal Fire and San Bernardino County fire officials.

The fire was reported at 2:04 p.m. near the north end of Euclid Avenue in Upland, said Cal Fire spokeswoman Suzanne Penfold. Firefighters stopped the flames from reaching any homes and the fire moved north into the wash at the mouth of Cucamonga Canyon, Penfold said.

No structures were immediately threatened and no evacuations had been ordered.

As of 5:30 p.m., officials estimated the fire was 30 percent contained and burning in the San Bernardino National Forest, said Cal Fire spokesman Jesse Estrada. One firefighter had been hospitalized due to an unspecified allergic reaction, Estrada said.

The Grand Prix Fire burned more than 69,000 acres and destroyed 194 homes in October 2003, according to U.S. Forest Service fire and aviation records.

The vegetation that has grown back in the past five years is not nearly as dense as unburned chaparral typically found at elevations near the mouth of Cucamonga Canyon.

San Bernardino County Fire spokeswoman Megan Blaney described the fuels burning today near San Antonio Heights as "light and flashy."

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