La Verne ratifies local-emergency proclamation after Bridge/Line Fire; chief reports 54,690 acres and 11% containment

City officials briefed the council on the city’s response to the recent Bridge/Line Fire and ratified a proclamation of local emergency at the Sept. 16 meeting.

Fire Chief Nig told the council the fire had made a major run and that, “the fire as of this morning was at 54,690 acres. It stands at 11% containment.” He said roughly 2,800 firefighting personnel had been assigned and that early incident runs caused significant growth on the second and third days. Chief Nig said the cause remained under investigation.

The fire department described activation of the city’s emergency operations center at a level-3 monitoring posture, the use of evacuation warnings and wireless emergency alerts in La Verne zones 001 and 002, and coordination with county, Cal Fire and multiagency unified command. Chief Nig described the rollout of a new county app (Genesys Protect) that was intended to improve localized alerts and apologized for messaging that some residents found alarmist.

City manager Domar told the council that the evacuation warnings were lifted as of 2 p.m. the previous day and described the city’s logistics and cost-recovery work. He said the governor had declared a state emergency for affected areas, the county had a declaration in place and a fire management assistance grant (FMAG) application was approved to help secure federal reimbursement for eligible costs.

Council then ratified the city manager’s local-proclamation declaration to enable reimbursement and recovery measures; the motion passed 5-0.

What happens next: city staff will continue coordinating with county and state incident commanders, finalize cost-recovery documentation and work with partners on recovery and mitigation. The city asked residents to monitor official social channels for updates and to maintain personal emergency plans.