UPDATED 9:00 a.m. ET: This story has been updated to reflect wildfire information as of Wednesday morning.
Firefighters reached 33% containment of the Lake Fire currently sweeping through the San Bernardino mountains, according to the National Interagency Coordination Center’s incident management situation report released Wednesday morning.
The Lake Fire broke out June 17 in a parched state suffering through one of its worst droughts on record, and has since required up to $7 million in resources to fight, including nearly 2,000 fire personnel, more than 100 fire engines and almost two dozen helicopters. The cause of the fire remains under investigation, though the drought is a contributing factor that has helped the fire grow.
While the fire is threatening approximately 500 structures, none have been damaged or destroyed to date.
A 15-second time-lapse posted on Instagram by Ron Monasterio on Monday provides an aerial view of the Lake Fire.
A video posted by Ron Monasterio (@ronmonster) on Jun 22, 2015 at 11:25pm PDT
Monasterio has posted numerous Instagram videos from this angle, with its caption reading, "Daily 15 second dose of Joshua Tree sky."
State Highway 38 has been closed since the fire began, but may be re-opened on Wednesday or Thursday. The Wednesday morning fire update from the National Interagency Fire Center says that "Good progress was made on the northeastern portion of the fire today, though the fire remained active and continued spotting to the east." Areas to the east of the fire are difficult for ground crews to access, so aircraft have been dropping fire retardant there to slow the fire's progress.
The Lake Fire is the largest blaze this year on California's national forests, according to the LA Times. Officials are expecting an above average fire season across the West, due to the drought and record warmth. Temperatures during the next several days may reach the triple-digits in interior California.
University of California Riverside fire ecologist Richard Minnich told The Desert Sun that a fire in the region was bound to happen.
The San Bernardino Mountains had not suffered a major wildfire in over a century, causing it to collect an "overabundance of vegetation" that helps fuel wildfires like the one now taking place.
"Inevitably, it was going to happen anyway," Minnich said.