Firefighters make headway on blaze off I-80 near Auburn
By Hamed Aleaziz
Updated 8:07 pm, Thursday, October 9, 2014
More than 1,200 firefighters were battling a series of grass fires along Interstate 80 in Placer County that destroyed six homes and forced hundreds of residents to evacuate, but crews were beginning to get the upper hand by Thursday evening, authorities said.
The blazes, which were sparked Wednesday afternoon, burned 420 acres by Thursday evening, according to Cal Fire. Firefighters raised containment to 25 percent, an improvement from 10 percent Wednesday evening.
The state agency said 1,000 homes were threatened in the Applegate and Weimar communities and that roughly 500 people had been forced to evacuate. Four outbuildings were also destroyed.
On eastbound Interstate 80, which was closed completely after the blaze broke out, traffic flowed freely Thursday night as both lanes were reopened, Cal Fire said.
Daniel Berlant, a Cal Fire spokesman, said the biggest concern Thursday was winds that could pick up and push the fire closer to the threatened homes.
He said firefighters were working hard to prevent flames from reaching the dry American River Canyon's north fork. The King Fire ripped through the south fork of that canyon in September.
"We do not want to see that same type of fire behavior," Berlant said, adding that firefighters were "hitting it very hard" to prevent the blaze from getting into the canyon.
Despite a brief period of high winds, in which the fire did flare up slightly, crews were able to make significant inroads Thursday, said Lynne Tolmachoff, a Cal Fire spokeswoman.
"We're making very good progress," she said. "We had a few tough hours in the middle of the day wen the fire made some runs, but we caught it before it really got going."
One person was injured, but their injuries were minor and they were expected to recover. The cause of the fires was under investigation.
Evacuation centers were set up at Sierra Vista Community Center in Colfax, Foresthill Veteran's Memorial Hall in Foresthill and Auburn Veteran's Memorial Hall in Auburn.
Chronicle staff writer Kale Williams contributed to this report.
Source: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Firefighters-battling-fire-along-I-80-5811743.phpRead my blog at http://eclecticarcania.blogspot.com/
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