The out-of-control Line fire grew to 17,459 acres Sunday morning, with zero containment and additional evacuation warnings issued as the number of homes threatened soared.

The total number of homes and structures at risk in the region jumped to 35,405, Cal Fire said in its Sunday morning update.

“Thunderstorm outflow winds are causing very erratic behavior and vegetation is critically dry,” Cal Fire said. “The fire will start out under smoky skies today which will help moderate fire behavior, but as smoke clears through the afternoon, fire activity will once again pick up. Smoke remains a challenge for aircraft, limiting access to parts of the fire.

“Limited resources and logistical support have hampered fire control efforts,” Cal Fire added. “Hot and dry conditions mixed with thunderstorms are expected to challenge firefighters for the next few days.”

By Sunday afternoon, firefighters were not only challenged by the steep terrain and lack of access, but a nasty storm that brought lightning strikes and created “havoc” for firefighters, Cal Fire spokesman Rick Carhart told a reporter.

“They’ll get wind shifts that just happen in a matter of moments,” he said.

The fire in the San Bernardino Mountains, including in the San Bernardino National Forest, prompted the closure of Highway 330 between Highland and Running Springs on Saturday evening. The fire jumped to the west side of the 330 about 5 miles above the Highland/San Bernardino area. Highway 18 was closed going north from Kuffle Canyon to Running Springs, Caltrans said.

The thousands of structures threatened included single and multifamily homes and commercial buildings, Cal Fire said.

As of 9:45 a.m. Sunday, evacuation warnings were announced for Angelus Oaks, Seven Oaks and Mountain Home Village, adding to the many communities notified of them through the weekend.

At Noble Creek Park in Beaumont on Sunday, the base camp for firefighters battling the 4-day-old Line fire, the air was clear, as it was upwind of the towering plume of smoke to the west, which darkened as the day went on.

Firefighters and first responders dug in for a long siege, setting up meal facilities and arranging for hotel accommodations for fellow fire firefighters who had come from as far away as Merced to battle the blaze.

West of the fire, at a temporary evacuation site in Immanuel Baptist Church in Highland, everything was sepia toned Sunday, as sunlight filtered through a thick haze of wood smoke.

Between 65 and 70 people evacuated from the Line fire slept at the church Saturday night, according to Ricardo Tomboc, the Red Cross shelter supervisor. The shelter was feeding 35 to 40 additional people, he said.

It took Stephen Michael King, who has lived in the San Bernardino Mountains for about a decade, 61/2 hours to get from Running Springs to the shelter in Highland on Saturday. The 31-mile journey normally takes about 45 minutes.

He slept the night at Immanuel Baptist — technically.

“Well, it depends on how you define sleep,” he said. He got “about three hours.”

King said he normally doesn’t evacuate, but times are changing.

“We can get 300-foot flame lengths, just like that,” he said, snapping his fingers. “One minute the fire is a couple miles away, next thing you know — boom — it’s on ya.”

Some who evacuated were too upset to talk. Even the pets were affected.

A forlorn beagle stared out from beneath a Red Cross blanket draped over his crate, unmoving and unresponsive.

Three other pets — two dogs and a cat — sat silently in their cages beside their owner, who said she’d start crying if she talked about what they’d been through.

The evacuation center was later moved from the Highland church to the Jessie Turner Health and Fitness Community Center at 15556 Summit Ave. in Fontana. Another evacuation shelter was set up in Victorville, at 14800 Seventh Street, Building 6.

The fire largely burned in grass up to 21/2 feet tall and chaparral up to 6 feet. It generated massive volumes of smoke that spread through the Inland area and parts of Los Angeles and Orange counties, prompting the South Coast Air Quality Management District to extend a smoke advisory.

The fire was so intense Saturday it created its own clouds, with thousands of lightning strikes, including over 280 ground strikes, the National Weather Service said.

Health officials warned that everyone who could should stay indoors. Shortly after 11 a.m., Redlands Unified, which serves many of the students in Highland, canceled classes for today. Some other school districts were monitoring the fire.

On Sunday, Cal Fire listed the following road closures:

• Highway 18 is closed from Kuffel Canyon to the Big Bear Dam. If you are in Running Springs, you are able to get out but you will not be allowed back in.

• Highway 18 is closed going north (inbound) from Kuffel Canyon to Running Springs. Only southbound (outbound) traffic is allowed.

• Highway 18 is closed from Running Springs to Highway 38 (Big Bear Dam).

• Highway 330 remains closed from Highland Avenue to Highway 18 in Running Springs.

• Garnet Street closed at State Route 38 in Mentone.

“I’m exceptionally proud of all of our team that is standing up our efforts to support our residents, both in Highland as well as our mountain communities,” said Dawn Rowe, San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors chairperson, whose First District includes most of those affected by the Line fire. “Everyone, please heed those (evacuation) warnings and stay safe.”