The Sawtooth Complex fire was a group of wildfires in San Bernardino County in the U.S. state of California in the summer of 2006. The Complex was made up of the Sawtooth, Waters, and Ridge fires, and burnt in chaparral two miles (3.2 km) east of Yucca Valley.
The Sawtooth Complex fire was started by lightning on July 9, 2006 at 8:30 am PDT. The fire burned 61,700 acres (250 km2) and destroyed 50 homes, 8 mobile homes, 13 garages, 171 outbuildings, 191 cars and pick up trucks, 3 R.V.s, 27 trailers, 2 railcars, 9 tractors. 12 residences were damaged. There were 17 minor injuries and 1 civilian fatality.
Residents of Pioneertown, Skyline Ranch, Pipes Canyon, Gamma Gulch, northern Morongo Valley, Burns Canyon and Rimrock were placed under mandatory evacuations.
Pioneertown is the site of several historic structures dating back to 1940s Hollywood film production. While some buildings in Pioneertown were destroyed, the historic structures were spared.
At 5:00 pm PDT on July 14, the Sawtooth Complex fire merged with the Millard Complex fire.
The fire was 100% contained on July 18.
Famous quotes containing the words complex and/or fire:
“We must open our eyes and see that modern civilization has become so complex and the lives of civilized men so interwoven with the lives of other men in other countries as to make it impossible to be in this world and out of it.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched seabeams glitter in the dark near the Tennhauser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain. Time to die.”
—David Webb Peoples, U.S. screenwriter, and Ridley Scott. Roy Batty, Blade Runner, final words before dying—as an android he had a built-in life span that expired (1982)