Creek Fire update: Containment delayed another month - at least. Here’s what’s happening

Firefighters hoped to contain the Creek Fire by Nov. 30. That date is now set for Dec. 31.

“It could be pushed back even further, but I’m pretty confident,” said Brian Vasquez, incident commander at the Sierra National Forest.

Fire containment has reached 96% and will likely hover around that number until a significant winter storm hits the central San Joaquin Valley. The fire has burned approximately 379,895 acres around Big Creek, Huntington Lake, Shaver Lake, Mammoth Pool, and San Joaquin River Canyon since Sept. 4. The cause remains under investigation.

Fire activity is minimal. On his last reconnaissance flight last week, Vasquez spotted “some pockets of smoke and smoldering creeping around out there.” However, the burning trees and logs have not challenged the fire line, and he doesn’t expect them to.

Vasquez said they are holding off on claiming full containment for bureaucratic reasons, too. Calling 100% containment triggers a 40-day paperwork-heavy process, which the Forest Service won’t have the capacity to complete during the holiday season.

“If I were to contain now, there’s 30 of those 40 days folks are out on vacation, and it couldn’t possibly be finished,” Vasquez said. “It’s technicalities, I guess.”

Only six people are now working on the Creek Fire, but none are out on the field. They are instead focused on closing out all the pay documents, land use agreements, and data entry, Vasquez said.

Repair of the fire lines to prevent erosion and restore the area to its natural state has been put on pause until the spring. Most of the rehabilitation work has been completed, save for the elevations above 7,000 feet, which had too much snow and ice for equipment to function safely.

This story was originally published November 30, 2020 at 12:42 PM with the headline "Creek Fire update: Containment delayed another month - at least. Here’s what’s happening."