NOW AT 11. BREAKING NEWS THREE WILDFIRES EXPLODING ACROSS SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TONIGHT. AIR SEVEN SHOWING US A VIEW OF THE BRIDGE FIRE BURNING MORE THAN 34,000 ACRES IN THE ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST. IT'S GROWN ALMOST NINE TIMES IN SIZE JUST SINCE THIS MORNING, AND IT'S FORCING FRANTIC EVACUATIONS IN THE COMMUNITY OF WRIGHTWOOD. WE HAVE LIVE TEAM COVERAGE TONIGHT, BEGINNING WITH LEANNE SUTER LIVE IN WRIGHTWOOD, WHERE PEOPLE ARE FORCED FROM THEIR HOMES AND CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT MAY BE LEFT BEHIND. LEANNE >> MARK, THERE IS SO MUCH DESTRUCTION AND DAMAGE HERE IN WRIGHTWOOD. THIS FIRE ROARING THROUGH PART OF THE TOWN HERE. FIREFIGHTERS, THOUGH MAKING A VERY GOOD STAND TO PROTECT THE HEART OF THE CITY. BUT YOU CAN SEE BEHIND ME WHAT HAS ALREADY HAPPENED. YOU SEE THE HILLS HERE ALONG HIGHWAY TWO ON THE WEST SIDE OF WRIGHTWOOD, JUST COVERED IN GLOWING EMBERS. EVERYTHING PRETTY MUCH IN ITS WAKE HAS BEEN BURNED. WE HAVE SEEN SEVERAL HOMES THAT HAVE BEEN LOST. FIREFIGHTERS REMAINING OUT ON THE SCENE HERE, PUTTING OUT THE HOTSPOTS, OR AT LEAST THE FIRES AT THE HOMES THAT THEY CAN. BUT LET ME TELL YOU, THIS FIREFIGHT IS FAR FROM OVER. FIRE AND ASH. AS THE DEVASTATING BRIDGE FIRE ROARS THROUGH WRIGHTWOOD RESIDENTS SAY THEY BARELY HAD TIME TO ESCAPE. >> I'VE NEVER SEEN THIS BEFORE. EVER AND. YEAH THERE'S A POSSIBILITY I MIGHT. WE MIGHT LOSE EVERYTHING THERE. BUT OUR FAMILY IS SAFE. SO HOPEFULLY EVERYONE GETS OUT AND NO ONE GETS HURT. >> WITH ONLY ONE WAY OUT ON HIGHWAY TWO, RESIDENTS GRABBED WHATEVER THEY COULD AS POWERFUL WINDS WITH GUSTS UP TO 50MPH FUELED THE FLAMES. >> THE SKY TURNED DARK AND EVERYBODY KNEW SOMETHING BAD WAS HAPPENING. AND THEN WE GOT THE ALERTS ON OUR PHONE THAT SAID IT WAS TIME TO EVACUATE. >> RESIDENTS CAPTURING THE EERIE SCENE ON CAMERAS. THE SKY TURNED ORANGE FROM THE FAST MOVING FIRE, THE SKY ALL THE WAY AROUND ME. >> THAT WAS LIKE IT WAS IN A CIRCLE WHERE I LIVE AND MY HOUSE IS BRAND NEW. IT WAS JUST PUT IN SEPTEMBER, SO THE BRIDGE FIRE EXPLODING IN SIZE IN A MATTER OF HOURS, JUMPING FROM 4000 ACRES TO MORE THAN 34,000. >> THE WEST SIDE OF WRIGHTWOOD HIT HARD. NUMEROUS HOMES AND STRUCTURES LOST THE LIVE CAMERA MOUNTAIN HIGH RESORT, CAPTURING THE DEVASTATING SCENE AS THE BLAZE BURNED THROUGH DOZENS OF FIREFIGHTERS RACING IN TO TRY TO SAVE. AS MUCH OF THE CITY AS POSSIBLE. >> THE FIRE ACTIVITY IS EXTREME, IT'S THE PROBABLY THE MOST EXTREME I'VE SEEN IN 20 YEARS, SO OUR FIREFIGHTERS DO THEIR JOB. WE'RE GOING TO REENGAGE AND KEEP ON KEEPING ON AS A BRIDGE FIRE CONTINUES TO RAGE OUT OF CONTROL. >> IT'S LEAVING AN APOCALYPTIC SCENE BEHIND. EVERYTHING BURNED IN ITS WAKE. >> LÍNEA WRIGHTWOOD, RESIDENT. FOR 30 YEARS, I'VE BEEN THROUGH A LOT OF FIRES. I'VE NEVER SEEN THEM MOVE THAT FAST BEHIND MY HOUSE, AND IT REMINDS ME OF WHAT WE SAW AT PARADISE. THAT'S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE UP THERE. >> YEAH, SO MUCH CONCERN, SO MUCH DESTRUCTION. AT THIS POINT, THERE IS NO COUNT ON HOW MANY STRUCTURES OR HOMES MAY HAVE BEEN DAMAGED OR LOST IN THIS FIRE OR THE RESORT. WE KNOW THAT THAT TOO HAS SUFFERED QUITE A BIT OF DAMAGE, BUT THAT IS GOING TO COME LATER. RIGHT NOW, THAT FIREFIGHT CONTINUING, SO MANY ENGINES LIKE THE ONE YOU SEE BEHIND ME HERE NOW POSTED IN THE CITY, DOZENS OF CREWS RUSHING IN TO TRY TO PROTECT WRIGHTWOOD AS IT CONTINUES TO BURN ALONG BOTH SIDES OF THE CANYON HERE. ALSO A MAJOR FIREFIGHT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE BLAZE HERE. PINON HILLS, ONE OF THE OTHER AREAS NOW AT RISK. AGAIN, THIS IS GOING TO BE A VERY TOUGH FIGHT THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT. LIVE IN WRIGHTWOOD, LEANNE SUTER. ABC SEVEN EYEWITNESS NEWS. >> ALL RIGHT, LEANNE, THANK YOU. AND CHRIS CHRISTIE CONTINUES OUR TEAM COVERAGE. HE'S LIVE IN AIR SEVEN OVER THE ANGELES NATIONAL FOREST. CHRIS. >> YEAH, THAT'S RIGHT MARK. IN FACT, JUST A FEW MILES AWAY FROM WRIGHTWOOD IN MOUNT BALDY IN THE VILLAGE, THERE ARE NOW HOMES BEING AFFECTED BY THIS FIRE. THERE ARE HOUSES CATCHING ON FIRE IN A SHORT TIME AGO, WE JUST CAUGHT A CHINOOK HELICOPTER PICKING UP A LOAD OF WATER HERE ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF MOUNT BALDY, YOU CAN SEE HIM FUELING UP AND PICKING UP A WHOLE 3000 GALLONS OF WATER. AND HE HAS JUST ARRIVED. MOMENTS AGO INSIDE THIS MOUNTAIN, DROPPING WATER. THEY'RE NOW MAKING WATER DROPS. NIGHTTIME WATER DROPS INSIDE OF THIS FIRE AGAIN. THAT'S ALL HAPPENING IN THE BACK COUNTRY. YOU ARE LOOKING ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF MOUNT BALDY, WHERE THERE ARE NOW EVACUATION WARNINGS GOING INTO EFFECT FOR SEVERAL COMMUNITIES, INCLUDING UPLAND, SAN ANTONIO HEIGHTS AND CLAREMONT. THESE ARE NOT MANDATORY YET. THESE ARE WARNINGS, BUT IT GIVES YOU AN IDEA OF THE SCALE OF THIS FIRE AS IT REACHES INTO THE BACK COUNTRY, ENCROACHES ON WRIGHTWOOD. AND NOW CONCERNED THAT IF THE WINDS SHIFT TO THE SOUTH, THERE ARE COMMUNITIES RIGHT HERE ALONG THE FOOTHILLS NORTH OF THE 210 FREEWAY THAT COULD COULD EVENTUALLY BE AFFECTED