An update from Cal Fire shows that the Creek Fire which began last Friday and has burned over 175,893 acres, is now at six percent containment.
In a press conference last night, Dean Gould, U.S. Forest Supervisor and Agency Administrator, spoke about the containment and what it meant for personnel fighting the fire.
“Well, that’s significant, in a lot of ways…We finally have that anchor point established,” said Gould. “That really will serve as a foundation for both sides to really start getting around this incident.”
Gould also talked about the weather conditions that played a factor in the containment.
“The wind has not been as bad as predicted…The temperature has been down a little bit, which has certainly helped,” said Gould.
Lt. Brandon Purcell from the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office gave updates on evacuations and addressed an explosion that occurred at China Peak Resort.
Law enforcement believes the explosion came from a storage at the resort that stored avalanche equipment which includes explosives. The fire is most likely the cause of the explosion but law enforcement is still doing an investigation for confirmation.
Purcell also talked about using thermal technology to scan the impacted areas for people who may be stuck and need evacuating.
“We starting scanning the forest using our technology on air crafts to look for people that are hiking at the Pacific Crest and John Muir country,” said Purcell. “We currently have 20 people at Florence Lake that are there, we are planning on doing a transportation out of that area.”
Purcell also reiterated that law enforcement personnel, aside from assisting with evacuations, are still doing daily patrols on the impacted and evacuated areas to protect businesses and homes from looting and burglary.
To get current updates on the Creek Fire, visit https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/7147/.