Our latest update: Weather Helps Crews Corral Mount Diablo Blaze
Update 4:45 p.m. Monday: The wildfire burning on and around Mount Diablo in central Contra Costa County has grown rapidly today. Cal Fire says the fire has covered 3,700 acres and is now 20 percent contained. DC-10 jumbo jets outfitted to drop 100,000 pounds of fire retardant on a single run have reportedly been called in to help in the fight.
Smoke from the fire has been visible in much of the Bay Area. The huge plume drifting south from the blaze prompted the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to issue a smoke advisory this afternoon for residents of Contra Costa, Alameda and Santa Clara counties.
The blaze began Sunday afternoon in a sparsely populated area of homes and small ranches southeast of the town of Clayton. The rapidly moving fire prompted mandatory evacuations for residents of about 100 ranches and homes in the area.
KQED’s Tara Siler offered an update this morning from fire information officer Lewis Broschard of the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District:
The fire is burning in very steep, rugged terrain on the eastern slope of Mount Diablo. The fuel and topography is such that the fire will continue to spread. We are going to be working at getting additional containment. Approximately 500 firefighters are going to be working the lines today and we do have aircraft en route to the fire as we speak to support ground operations. But the fire is burning in an area of the park that hasn’t burned for a very long period of time and the fire is well established right now. The fire did burn actively all night and we did obviously see a large increase in the number of acres burned.
Cal Fire announced several road closures in the Clayton area and in the rural area east of the mountain (open to residents only, with photo identification). Marsh Creek Road closed from Camino Diablo to Regency Road in Clayton. Morgan Territory Road is closed from Marsh Creek Road to Highland Road (Alameda County).
Persons needing to evacuate large animals may take them to the Heather Farms Equestrian Center in Walnut Creek. For more information, please visit: www.ecwc.org or call 925-939-2929.