Fire crews optimistic on getting Sheep Fire under control

The Sheep Fire burning east of Wrightwood in the San Gabriel Mountains has scorched 7,500 acres. It’s now 20 percent contained.

KPCC reporter Steven Cuevas is in Wrightwood covering the fire. He tells Steve Julian the winds have calmed down, and firefighters are optimistic about getting a good handle on the fire today.

The temperatures have been cool in the area of the fire, almost frosty. The winds died down early this morning, and it's beautiful in the area, with little smoke in the air.

They're still worried about the southeast corner in outer Wrightwood, where there's a couple dozen homes spread out over a considerable amount of acreage.

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They continue to cut firebreaks. They made a lot of progress last night and overnight, cutting 15-foot-wide fire breaks outside of Wrightwood. They're hoping to continue with the air assault this morning and make good work of the fire.

The plan for today is to keep the crews in place, continue to structure protection around Wrightwood, and put vehicles in the air to help the crews on the ground. The area's still under mandatory evacuation, and several dozen people are evacuated at the Victorville Fairgrounds. The town is a ghost town right now.

Fire officials are feeling positive and hope to have a good handle on this by the end of the day.

From a mile or two from the fire, you can see very little smoke. You can smell it from about a mile or two from where there's active flames, but compared to Sunday afternoon where you could see it practically down to Temecula with huge mushroom clouds of smoke, it's much better.