Update: Fire In Mountain Ranch

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Update at 7 p.m.: Update at 7 p.m.: CAL Fire reports that ground crews will work overnight to stop the forward spread and then hopefully fully contain the Michel Fire. They noted that crews have dozer lines around about 50% of the blaze that is burning in the Mountain Ranch area of Calaveras County. The flames broke out in the 2 o’clock hour in the 10400 block of Fricot City Road, between Ponderosa Way and Star Canyon Trail, east of Highway 49 and north of Highway 4. The blaze is estimated at 32 and a half acres in size. A section of Fricot City Road by the Rite of Passage School remains closed to traffic. CAL Fire reports there have been no evacuations. What ignited the fire is under investigation.

Update at 5:15 p.m.: More progress is being made on the Michel Fire burning in the Mountain Ranch area of Calaveras County. CAL Fire reports that the air tankers have been released from the fire, but ground crews are facing tough terrain while working the blaze that broke out in the 2 o’clock hour in the 10400 block of Fricot City Road, between Ponderosa Way and Star Canyon Trail, east of Highway 49 and north of Highway 4 in the Mountain Ranch area of Calaveras County. A section of Fricot City road by the Rite of Passage School remains closed to traffic with CHP officers redirecting traffic. CAL Fire reports no evacuations. The public is asked to avoid the area.

Update at 4:45 p.m.: CAL Fire reports the Michel Fire is holding within the retardant lines. It has grown from 20 acres to an estimated 32 acres in size. They added that the rugged terrain is making fighting the flames difficult, but crews are making progress. The blaze ignited in the 2 o’clock hour in the 10400 block of Fricot City Road, between Ponderosa Way and Star Canyon Trail, east of Highway 49 and north of Highway 4 in the Mountain Ranch area of Calaveras County. A section of Fricot City Road by the Rite of Passage School remains closed to traffic, with CHP officers redirecting traffic. CAL Fire reports no evacuations. The public is asked to avoid the area.

Update at 3:50 p.m.: CAL Fire reports crews are getting a handle on the Michel Fire in Mountain Ranch near the Rite of Passage in the 10400 block of Fricot City Road, between Ponderosa Way and Star Canyon Trail, east of Highway 49 and north of Highway 4. The fire is now estimated to be 20 acres in size but has “moderated significantly” and more resources have been called off the blaze that started in the 2 o’clock hour, according to CAL Fire. A section of Fricot City Road near the Rite of Passage School remains closed to traffic, with CHP officers redirecting traffic. The public is asked to avoid the area.

Update at 3:15 p.m.: CAL Fire reports that some resources are being let go from a vegetation fire, now dubbed the Michel Fire, that broke out near the Rite of Passage school in the 10400 block of Fricot City Road, between Ponderosa Way and Star Canyon Trail, east of Highway 49 and north of Highway 4 in Mountian Ranch. Some aircraft have been called off the scene of the blaze, which is estimated to be between five and ten acres in size.

The CHP has closed a section of Fricot City Road by the Rite of Passage, and officers are redirecting traffic. The public is asked to avoid the area.

Update at 2:30 p.m.: Columbia aircraft and ground crews are fighting a vegetation fire in Calaveras County where a large white plume of smoke can be seen in the sky.

CAL Fire has changed the address of the fire reporting it is now that the flames broke out near the Rite of Passage school in the 10400 block of  Fricot City Road, between Ponderosa Way and Star Canyon Trail, east of Highway 49 and north of Highway 4 in Mountian Ranch. CAL Fire reports that the blaze is five to ten acres in size and burning at a moderate rate of spread. No structures are currently threatened. An update will be provided as soon as new information comes into the newsroom.

Original Post at 2:15 p.m.: Mountain Ranch, CA — Columbia aircraft and ground crews are fighting a vegetation fire in Calaveras County where a large white plume of smoke can be seen in the sky.

CAL Fire reports the flames broke out near the Rite of Passage  Atcs on Fricot City Road east of Highway 49 and north of Highway 4. CAL Fire reports that the blaze is five to ten acres and burning at a moderate rate of spread. No structures are currently threatened. There is no information currently available on the fire’s activity related to its size or rate of spread or whether any structures are threatened. An update will be provided as soon as new information comes into the newsroom.