Hirz Fire now fully contained, Forest Service says; Delta Fire grows by 3,000 acres

Containment of the Hirz Fire, one of two wildfires burning in Shasta and Trinity counties, has reached 100 percent, according to a social media post by National Forest officials.

The Hirz Fire is the smaller and older of two fires burning above Shasta Lake, several miles north of Redding, which was devastated by this summer’s Carr Fire.

The fire began Aug. 9 about 18 miles northwest of Redding and has burned 46,150 acres (72 square miles) of rugged terrain. The U.S. Forest Service, the lead agency fighting the blaze, said Wednesday night that crews would focus on holding and mopping up contained areas and securing the remaining active edge of the fire near South Fork.

To the west, the Delta Fire continues to burn as firefighter make progress on the blaze that broke out more than a week ago and caused a five-day shutdown of Interstate 5.

That blaze grew during the day Wednesday by more than 3,000 acres and has scotched 57,233 acres (89 square miles) and was 17 percent contained as of Wednesday night, according to the U.S. Forest Service’s Shasta-Trinity National Forest unit. The blaze is expected to be fully contained by Saturday, Sept. 22.

The Carr Fire, which started on July 23 and was fully contained Sept. 4, was responsible for 8 deaths and the destruction of more than 1,000 homes.

This story was originally published September 12, 2018 at 9:23 PM with the headline "Hirz Fire now fully contained, Forest Service says; Delta Fire grows by 3,000 acres."