Despite threat of growing toll, Sierra forest official sees signs of hope in Creek Fire
Even positive news carries a sober tone in the environment that is the Creek Fire, which rolled past the 160,000-acre mark by early Wednesday and remained unrestrained having already destroyed more than 360 homes, commercial property or other smaller buildings.
The positive news? The rate of growth slowed significantly during a 24-hour stretch that ended Tuesday, even amid extremely dangerous, windy Red Flag conditions. The let’s-not-get-ahead-of-ourselves moment? It still was a one-day increase of some 21,000 acres.
“That just kind of puts into perspective what this incident really is,” said Dean Gould, forest supervisor at Sierra National Forest. “A 21,000-acre incident by itself may call for a Type 1 team, and that was just one day for us.
“But at least, at least, it is starting to trend in that positive direction.”
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That likely offered only a little relief to the tens of thousands of foothill and mountain community residents already evacuated or under evacuation warnings.
In Fresno County, about 30,000 had been forced from their homes, Sheriff’s Lt. Brandon Pursell said.
In Madera County, 4,000 people had been evacuated and another 15,000 remained under evacuation orders, said Bill Ward, a sheriff’s commander there.
Officially, a total of 163,138 acres had been consumed, according to an 8 a.m. Wednesday update from Cal Fire. Two Type 1 teams, an unusual but not unprecedented move, remained assigned to the fire, battling it in the two counties from opposite sides of the San Joaquin River.
Threats continued for the communities of Huntington Lake, Big Creek, Mammoth Pools, Central Camp, Cascadel Woods, town of Shaver, Cedar Crest, Lakeshore, Tollhouse, Meadow Lakes, Alder Springs, Mathews Mill, Auberry, New Auberry, Prather, Humphrey’s Station, Ockerden, Peckinpah, Italian Bar, Bass Lake, North Fork, South Fork and Wishon.
The cause of the fire is still under investigation, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Structure damage, including at China Peak
Of the structures destroyed, 60 were single residences, 278 mixed commercial/residential, 20 other minor structures, and two commercial structures.
Among the low points was news early Tuesday night that China Peak sustained partial damage, though owner Tim Cohee remained hopeful crews could prevent the rest of the ski area from burning down.
When the fire began Friday outside Big Creek, Cohee was optimistic it wouldn’t spread east up the drainage to Huntington Lake.
“We were told with the winds and the direction the fire was going we’d probably be in pretty good shape, but that’s turned out not to be the case,” Cohee said.
The Red Flag warning was extended through 8 p.m. Wednesday.
Another threat emerged at the resort Wednesday, Cal Fire reported. There is a magazine there with 1,000 pounds of explosives used for avalanche control.
History in jeopardy
More than 1,300 archaeological sites representing thousands of years of occupation are within and near the current fire perimeter, according to Cal Fire, including prehistoric Native American villages and early frontier settlements.
Endangered species affected include the Pacific fisher, Yosemite toad, Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, California red-legged frog, willow flycatcher, bald eagle and the Sierra Nevada red fox.
There was an area at the southwest edge of the fire zone, west of Shaver Lake, that is “starting to look pretty good,” Gould said.
It was “starting to maybe be that place where we’re going to be able to get an anchor point from and sink our teeth into it and really start getting some control on this, getting some containment.
“Still a lot to do,” he cautioned.
Evacuation center relocated
A temporary evacuation center for Madera County was relocated Tuesday night from Oakhurst to the Mariposa County Fairgrounds in Mariposa.
A reminder was issued to evacuees with pets. Don’t think once a mandatory evacuation order comes down that you can make one trip, then return for your dog, cat or other animal.
“Can you please start getting your animals ready,” when an evacuation warning, indicating a potential threat, is issued, Pursell said. “Once we give the order and you leave your residence, you cannot come back for your animals.”
Temporary animal shelters have been set up in Clovis for Fresno County evacuees and in Mariposa and Coarsegold for those in Madera County.
This story was originally published September 9, 2020 at 2:23 PM with the headline "Despite threat of growing toll, Sierra forest official sees signs of hope in Creek Fire."
