Full containment reported on fire near Placerville

Firefighters announced full containment Saturday afternoon of the Aukum Fire that erupted Friday in El Dorado County and burned 25 acres of forest.

But extreme temperatures and possible thunderstorms over the mountains have Cal Fire alert for new blazes this weekend as fire season begins to hit full swing.

“Crews made good progress overnight,” Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Berlant said Saturday morning. “We were able to stop the forward spread of the fire.”

Two firefighters suffered minor injuries from heat exhaustion while battling the blaze, Berlant said, and investigators are trying to determine the cause of the fire, which was reported at 100 percent containment after erupting five miles south of Placerville.

After the blaze began Friday, the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department asked for voluntary evacuations of some residents on the east side of Sandridge and Bucks Bar Road to Mount Aukum Road.

Another blaze, the Clay Fire, broke out Friday just before 5 p.m. and scorched 32 acres of grassland off Highway 104 and Clay East Road near Herald before firefighters had it fully contained just before 8 p.m., Cal Fire said. No cause for that fire has been determined.

Berlant said fire crews are on alert because of the hot, dry conditions in Northern California.

“We’re bracing for triple-digit temperatures again (Saturday) and even some expected thunderstorms over the Sierra this weekend, so with the possibility of lightning, that is definitely increasing our fire risk this weekend,” Berlant said.

This story was originally published June 4, 2016 at 10:30 AM with the headline "Full containment reported on fire near Placerville."