More Acreage And Containment

Pinecrest, CA — Forest Officials say they are making some headway on the Power Fire in the Stanislaus National Forest. The acreage has grown to 881 and so has the containment to 32%. The steep and rough terrain is a problem.

Forest Service Spokesperson Bob Poole says, “Access is an issue for us, but we have a lot of hand crews now. We now have 15 so we’re getting in there and making some really good progress.”

The total number of fire fighters on the scene has also grown to 447. Forest Officials report crews are dealing with loose rocks and trees falling downhill. Poole says two fire fighters have been injured, but the injuries were minor. As for tonight, it will be more of a monitoring of the flames.

“In the evening the fire tends to sit down a little bit. For the most part we will be monitoring the most of the fire. On the southern portion, where we have some good containment already, we will be doing some additional mop up and patrolling. We’re starting to make some improvement and headway in order to get full containment on this fire,” says Poole.

Forest Officials have clarified the location of the blaze to be in the Middle Fork drainage of the Stanislaus River, 4 miles northwest of Pinecrest. All roads, local businesses and recreation areas have remained open. Numerous structures are threatened by the flames, but no evacuations have been ordered. Poole says no structures have been damaged or destroyed and none are in imminent danger.

Also, Service officials have ordered fire restrictions in Moderate Hazard Areas of the Stanislaus National Forest. Those restrictions begin tomorrow. They say while this fire is not the reason for the restrictions it is an example of why they are needed because of the dry conditions. The smoke alert is still in effect for Tuolumne County warning sensitive groups to limited smoke exposure.

Resources include: 15 hand crew, 2 water tenders, 4 helicopter, 10 engines, 3 dozer, 5 helitak, and 7 fixed wings. The agencies working on the blaze are the US Forest Service, Cal-Fire, California Highway Patrol, Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office, Caltrans, PG&E.