County Fire grows to 88,000 acres, Cal Fire warns of warm weather to come

Firefighters continue to fight the County Fire, which has grown in size to 88,375 acres with 37 percent containment as of 6 a.m. Friday.

Containment has increased by 9 percent since Wednesday, Cal Fire said, due in part to cooler weather and higher humidity. Some mandatory evacuation orders were lifted Thursday morning, and the number of structures threatened decreased from 1,350 structures threatened on Wednesday to 110 on Friday.

Mandatory evacuations remain in place for residences served by Highway 128 between Monticello Dam and Pleasants Valley Road, west of Highway 16 to Berryessa Knoxville Road, south of County Road 40 and north of County Road 53. Nearly 3,500 fire personnel from 73 crews had stepped forward to attempt to contain the County Fire, which began Saturday in Guinda.

Firefighters made inroads thanks to cool, relatively wind-free conditions Wednesday morning, Cal Fire spokesman Jordan Motta said. They used driptorches and flame-shooting pistols to burn tinder-like dry grass before it could be engulfed by the larger flame.

Steep and inaccessible terrain has made fighting the fire difficult at the northern border, according to an incident report by Cal Fire. 3,475 firefighters, 21 helicopters, and 73 bulldozers are on scene working to contain the blaze. Cal fire has estimated that the fire will be fully contained July 10.

High heat and winds will return this weekend, increasing the potential for fire growth, Cal Fire said.

The Pawnee Fire has chewed up 15,000 acres of Lake County land but was 92 percent contained as of Thursday night. It had destroyed 22 structures, threatened 50 more and left one person injured as of Wednesday morning, according to Cal Fire.

Cal Fire also reported Thursday firefighters have fully contained a 200-acre fire in El Dorado County on Thursday. The Shingle Fire sparked Wednesday night off of South Shingle and Latrobe roads west of the unincorporated community of Latrobe.

This story was originally published July 5, 2018 at 6:42 PM with the headline "County Fire grows to 88,000 acres, Cal Fire warns of warm weather to come."