Early Fire 75 Percent Contained
The fire burning in the remote and rugged Tuolumne River Canyon has now blackened 1,600 acres.
Pat Kaunert with the U.S. Forest Service said last night crews started back fires to try and stop forward spread of the blaze. The cooler temperatures also allowed firefighters to get closer to the flames.
“Firefighters had a lot of success last night,” Kaunert said. As of Wednesday morning, the fire was 75 percent contained. Kaunert said they are looking for a full containment sometime this weekend, mostly likely Sunday evening, Aug. 15.
No cause for the fire has yet been determined.
The fire is burning in a remote location on the Stanislaus National Forest 16 miles east of Groveland. Smoke from this fire is drifting over numerous communities of the Mother Lode region.
The fire started Monday morning near the Hetch Hetchy Early Intake hydro-electric power plant on the north side of the Tuolumne River canyon. Structures at the facility were threatened but Kaunert says no structures have been damaged and there have been no serious injuries of firefighters.
