Deputies evacuate Del Puerto Canyon residents as wildfires continue to burn
Stanislaus County sheriff’s deputies were evacuating residents along Del Puerto Canyon Road on Monday afternoon as wildfires continued to burn, said a spokesman with the county’s Office of Emergency Services.
OES spokesman Raj Singh said about a half dozen deputies were going from property to property under a mandatory evacuation order. He said Cal Fire asked OES to evacuate residents.
Cal Fire reported the fires started Sunday and had burned 1,851 acres as of about noon Monday. The Canyon Zone fires consist of four blazes. Singh said they may have been started by lightning. Cal Fire reported they were at 0% containment.
Del Puerto Canyon is west of Patterson in western Stanislaus County.
Singh did not know how many people live along the canyon road. He said the fire is about a mile or two north of Frank Raines Off-Highway Vehicle Park. He said residents are being evacuated from the park to Mines Road to the west.
He said residents to the south of the fire should be ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice. He said that includes Diablo Grande residents. He said thunderstorms and lightning are predicted for the canyon and the wind is pushing the fire to the south.
“There are no other evacuation orders in place,” Singh said, “but these residents are living in fire country.”
The Canyon Zone fires are among the wildfires burning across California as it and much of the West Coast broils under a prolonged heat wave.
This story was originally published August 17, 2020 at 5:05 PM.
