Forests in Southern California end closure

The Angeles National Forest ended its forest closure order Wednesday evening at 11:59 p.m., one week past the expiration of the California regional closure.

The forest also lowered its fire danger level from Critical to Extreme, which continues to ban any use of any open-flame or certain spark-emitting equipment, according to he U.S. Forest Service.

Closures of other Southern California national forests — Los Padres, San Bernardino and Cleveland — also expired Wednesday night with modified or updated fire use restrictions, the USFS reported. The closure order was originally issued on Aug. 31 in response to statewide wildfires.

However, while the majority of the Angeles National Forest reopened, a significant part of the forest will remain closed due to the 2020 Bobcat Fire, the USFS reported.

This closure order has been in place since the fire’s start in September of 2020 and remains in effect until April of 2022 to allow for the affected area to recover after the 100,000-plus-acre fire.

The Bobcat closure order encompasses popular sites like Chantry Flat Picnic Area, and Buckhorn Campground.

“Several factors led to this decision allowing the closure order to expire,” said Robert T. Heiar, deputy forest supervisor, Angeles National Forest.

“Although we remain in extreme fire danger conditions, the national and regional improvement will help to provide the needed firefighting resources to Southern California,” Heiar said.

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