Lake Fire scorches 13,000 acres in remote area of San Bernardino National Forest

SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. -- The out-of-control Lake Fire scorched at least 13,000 acres in a remote area of the San Bernardino National Forest.

The blaze, which is burning in the Barton Flats area south of Big Bear near Highway 38, was 10 perfect contained.

The wildfire broke out on Wednesday and has exploded in size, as flames consumed heavy brush and pine trees along steep rocky terrain.

More than 1,300 firefighters were working to protect structures and homes in the area. The fire was burning away from communities, but about 400 structures were threatened.

All campgrounds have been evacuated in Barton Flats, Seven Oaks, Heart Bar and the South Fork area. A small group of homes along Rainbow Lane have also been evacuated.

Hiking trails into the San Gorgonio Wilderness area have been closed. Highway 38 was closed from Angelus Oaks to Lake Williams, and Jenks Lake Road was also closed.

A smoke advisory was issued for Morongo and Coachella valleys.

Bear Valley Unified School District officials relocated Big Bear High School's graduation ceremony to Big Bear Middle School due to the fire. The U.S. Forest Service has set up their Incident Command Center at the high school.

The ceremony is now set to take place at the middle school located at 41275 Big Bear Boulevard in Big Bear Lake at 4 p.m. Friday. For more information on the change of venue, visit www.bearvalleyusd.org.

The cause of the fire remained under investigation.