After announcing the Bluecut Fire was fully contained Tuesday morning, fire officials say the blaze has cost $12.3 million so far, which is half the total operational cost of the 8,110-acre Pilot Fire.
According to San Bernardino National Forest spokeswoman Lynn Sieliet, the Pilot Fire, which was announced fully contained just hours before the Bluecut Fire erupted in the Cajon Pass on Aug. 16, had an operational cost of $25 million.
Sieliet said operational costs include firefighters, aircraft, bulldozers and other equipment used to combat a fire. However, operational costs do not include fire suppression rehab costs, she said.
Sieliet said the Bluecut Fire’s operational cost is expected to rise, but she could not estimate if the total would surpass the Pilot Fire’s total.
Sieliet told the Daily Press of the operational costs just after San Bernardino County Fire Chief Mark Hartwig told the County Board of Supervisors that the 36,000-plus-acre blaze that started in the Cajon Pass would cost County Fire an estimated $2 million.
A FEMA grant was expected to pay 75 percent of that cost, while state funding would cover 75 percent of the remaining 25 percent, Hartwig said.
The full containment announcement comes exactly a week after full containment was achieved on the Pilot Fire, which burned over 8,000 acres in the San Bernardino Mountains and Summit Valley for over a week.