Colton, CA—Friday night’s game against Big Bear High School was canceled today due to the Radford wildfire currently forcing Big Bear residents out of their homes.

According to Athletic Director Jacob Van Hofwegen, both sides are working to reschedule the game for either September 22 or 23 depending on the availability of officials. “Both schools have the same bye week in week five,” Van Hofwegen said. “So both schools have agreed to play during that week. We’re just trying to iron it out right now with the officials to find out when the best day and time is.”

While this simply means a change in bye weeks for the Yellowjacket varsity squad, it does present a conflict for the freshman team. The freshman team already rescheduled last week’s canceled game against Rosamond High for September 21. They will still play Rosamond as scheduled, but the freshman game against Big Bear will not be able to be rescheduled.

Meanwhile, while it is certainly frustrating that games are being canceled due to the current heatwave, those in Big Bear are currently facing a monumental crisis. The Radford fire has already spread to over 1,100 acres and is only 2% contained.

Bear Valley Unified School District schools were closed due to the wildfire Wednesday and will remain so for the remainder of the week as families find themselves under evacuation orders by the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department.

Big Bear High School is currently being used as a Red Cross evacuation center. For more information about how you can help those impacted by the wildfires, please take a look at the Red Cross website for more details.

The Colton High football team will resume play on September 16 against the San Bernardino High School Cardinals. Game time is 7 p.m.