Blaze swells to more than 7,000 acres, but officials ‘optimistic’
ANDERSON >> Firefighters faced off against the fastmoving Fawn Fire as it edged closer to Shasta Lake on Saturday, hoping to take advantage of lighter winds and cooler temperatures expected to last through the weekend.
The fire broke out Wednesday afternoon in a rocky quarry area near Bear Mountain Road and has charred 7,544 acres in just three days, leveling at least 100 structures and threatening 9,000 more. Nearly 2,000 residents have been evacuated.
Still, Cal Fire officials reported progress: As wind gusts died down Friday, more than 1,600 crews built new containment lines and defended hundreds of buildings. The blaze was 10% contained as of Saturday morning.
“I’m pretty optimistic — it’s looking good,” Cal Fire spokesman Scott Ross said. “This fire is doing great compared to standing and watching it two days ago.”
The wildfire runs
roughly parallel to Interstate 5 to the west and Bear Mountain Road to the east as it burns toward the lake, threatening communities along both those corridors. Most of the homes and buildings lost so far have been on the southeastern side, Ross said.
Crews planned to focus Saturday on building containment lines to protect Jones Valley, a rural area where a few hundred residents live on ranches and small plots of land. A reversal in wind direction was meanwhile expected to push the fire away from
threatened communities along Interstate 5, Cal Fire behavior analyst Jonathan Pangburn said.
Temperatures were expected to drop into the 70s through the weekend. A storm system could bring some light rain to the North Bay and help clear smoke from Bay Area skies.
“Generally speaking, we should see some favorable conditions over the next couple of days,” Pangburn said.
But crews could struggle to control the fire as it moves into steeper terrain near Shasta Lake. Normally the lake would serve as an easy firebreak, but the water level is so low that fire officials are preparing for flames to sweep through the area.
Come late Monday or Tuesday, fresh winds could blow into the region again and undo the’ weekend progress crews are hoping to make, fire officials said.
“We’re looking at buttoning this up as much as possible before that. We don’t want that impacting what we’re doing,” Ross said.
The blaze was first reported in a steep, hardto-reach canyon at about 4:45 p.m. Wednesday near Fawndale and Radcliff roads, according to Cal Fire. Palo Alto resident Alexandra Souverneva, 30, has been arrested on suspicion of setting the fire.
The first 24 hours of the blaze “proved very difficult for us” thanks to its remote location, Cal Fire Incident Commander Scott Corn said.
“Then a wind event came through and pushed the fire into its current perimeter,” he said. “I want to assure you the fire was attacked aggressively and many of those initial attack resources were on that fire scene for 36 hours-plus.”
Statewide, about 9,800 firefighters were attacking 11 wildfires, according to Cal Fire, although crews continued to gain containment on two worrisome blazes: To the south in El Dorado County, the Caldor Fire was about 221,595 acres and 76% contained, while the Dixie Fire, which has been burning for more than two months in five counties, was 963,276 acres and 94% contained.
“Our first priority,” Corn said, “is to get you back into your homes as quickly and safely as possible.”