Stanislaus crews help battle California wildfires
As nearly 7,000 firefighters battled 14 large wildfires burning in California, Stanislaus County had personnel involved in four of the efforts Thursday.
On Wednesday night, two Type 3 wildland engines were sent to Tuolumne County as part of a strike team to fight the Big Creek fire off Highway 120 and Sprague Road near Groveland, said Stanislaus County Deputy Fire Warden Eric Holly.
An 8:30 p.m. Thursday update from the California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection put the blaze at 204 acres, with 35 percent containment. A voluntary evacuation, which was in effect Wednesday night and Thursday, was lifted at 6 p.m.
The two Stanislaus County engines – one from the Stanislaus Consolidated Fire Protection District, the other from Burbank Paradise Fire District – joined one engine from San Joaquin County and two from El Dorado County. The strike team leader is from the Salida Fire Protection District, Holly said, and the strike team leader trainee is from Stanislaus Consolidated.
“The surrounding drought-stressed forest with its thousands of dead trees has created an unprecedented danger to firefighters and residents alike,” CalFires incident update said. “Frequent spot fires across the line into this dense, dry, heavy timber are major challenges, raising the possibility of steadily worsening fire activity. Power lines in the area have been de-energized at CalFires’s request to protect firefighter safety.”
No structures have been destroyed and no one has been injured in the Big Creek fire, the cause of which is under investigation.
Stanislaus County also has personnel at the 8,051-acre Wragg fire in Napa and Solano counties, the 2,300-acre Lowell fire in Nevada and Placer counties, and the nearly 4,394-acre Willow fire in Mariposa County, Holly said.
Wildfire activity increased significantly in Northern California on Wednesday afternoon and evening because of triple-digit temperatures and gusty winds, said Daniel Berlant, a spokesman for Cal Fire. “While firefighters worked tirelessly containing over three dozen new wildfires, the windy conditions allowed five new large fires to grow rapidly,” he said in a news release Thursday morning.
Thursday’s weather conditions are much the same as Wednesday’s, “which will result in fire danger again being elevated,” Berlant said.
To the Wragg fire, the Modesto Fire Department sent one fire line paramedic. That fire, which has burned for more than a week, has charred more than 11 square miles in Solano County. It jumped the containment line Tuesday in rugged, steep terrain baked by triple-digit temperatures. “We’re optimistic that we are able to stop and hold it,” said Berlant.
At least 136 structures had been threatened. However, evacuation orders and advisories were lifted at 6 p.m.. One residence and three outbuildings were damaged, and two outbuildings were destroyed. The Wragg fire was 87 percent contained as of Friday morning. Full containment is expected Aug. 3.
At the Lowell fire, which was 75 percent contained as of 7:30 a.m. Friday, Modesto fire has contributed a fire line paramedic. Two Type 3 wildland engines – one from Stanislaus Consolidated, the other from the Turlock Rural Fire Department – are part of a strike team that includes three engines from Tuolumne County. The strike team’s leader trainee is from Stanislaus Consolidated. Also at the Lowell fire, a Tahoe Basin strike team includes a leader trainee from the Patterson Fire Department.
All Lowell fire evacuations have been downgraded to advisories. One structure has been destroyed and 54 are threatened. Six firefighters have been injured, including one who remains hospitalized with serious burns. Full containment is expected Aug. 3.
At the Willow fire, Stanislaus County has a public information officer. Residents in the community of Cascadel Woods north of Fresno were evacuated because of the blaze. It was 30 percent contained as of Friday morning.
Authorities say a boy acknowledged starting the fire by playing with a lighter to burn pine needles. The boy faces criminal charges but remains out of custody because he and his family are cooperating, officials say.
The Willow fire and the Cabin fire in Tulare County have prompted the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District to issue a health alert about smoke impact throughout the eight-county air basin that includes Stanislaus, San Joaquin and Merced counties. Thursday, smoke impact was concentrated in the mountainous and foothill areas, but poor air on the Valley floor is possible until the fires are extinguished.
Smoke from fires produces fine-particulate matter, which can cause serious health problems including lung disease, asthma attacks and increased risk of heart attacks and stroke. Residents can check the district’s wildfire page at www.valleyair.org/wildfires for information about any current wildfires and whether they are impacting the Valley.
Stanislaus County agencies currently have no personnel committed to other wildfires, Holly said, and it’s difficult to predict what lies ahead. That depends on the type of equipment needed. Right now, the need is for Type 3 wildland engines, he said. Stanislaus County has some available, but will decide on a case-by-case basis whether it can send them out, he said, because the top priority is ensuring sufficient equipment remains here for local protection.
The biggest challenge for firefighters in California is a fast-spreading Rocky Fire in Lake County, 130 miles north of San Francisco. The fire started Wednesday and within hours destroyed two homes and charred more than 12 square miles.
At least 500 residents were chased from their homes as the blaze raged in hills covered in dense brush and oak trees and dotted with ranch homes. The fire is burning near Lower Lake, south of Clear Lake, a popular summer recreation spot.
As of 8:15 p.m. Thursday, 10,200 acres had burned and it was only 5 percent contained.
For fire updates, go to www.fire.ca.gov/index.php and click on “Incident Information.”
This story was originally published July 30, 2015 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Stanislaus crews help battle California wildfires."