Summit Inn, historic piece of Route 66 Americana, destroyed in California Blue Cut fire

Southern California&#039;s Summit Inn has burned down

(Image credit: CC by: danpadilla/Flickr)

If you've never been to the Summit Inn, a roadside diner and gas station in Southern California's Cajon Pass that dates back to the heyday of Route 66, you've missed your chance. All that's left of the historic diner now is the sign, American flag, and Chevron sign, after the fast-moving Blue Cut fire razed the building on Tuesday. The Summit Inn, built in 1952, was a favorite stop of drivers heading to or from San Bernardino and the high desert, or anywhere in Southern California to Las Vegas. Interstate 15 took over when Route 66 faded away, and the inn survived. The diner had red booths, a jukebox, and walls covered in Americana and photos of celebrities who stopped in (Elvis Presley, John Wayne, Clint Eastwood).

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"For those who grew up and lived in Victorville and the high desert as I did, the news that the Summit Inn was suddenly gone was jarring at best," writes Larry Bohannan in Palm Springs' The Desert Sun. "And while others suffered far more devastating losses of homes and personal property, and while those locals in the area might not have ever been to the Summit Inn or hadn't been there for years, it was still the end of an era... It was Americana at 4,190 feet, the elevation of the summit of the Cajon Pass."

The Blue Cut fire, which began Tuesday, has spread to 25,626 acres in San Bernardino County and as of Wednesday night was only 4 percent contained, according to U.S. Forest Service spokeswoman Melody Lardner. More than 1,580 firefighters are attacking the inferno "with everything they can from the air and the ground," she added. Some 82,000 people are under mandatory evacuation orders, and an unknown number of the 34,000 homes in the 40-square-mile area have been destroyed.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.