First Big Bay Area Wildfire Scare of the Season Makes No Movement Overnight
Firefighters are optimistic that a wildfire burning in unincorporated Contra Costa County since Friday afternoon won’t expand, after reporting no forward progress overnight.
Evacuation warnings for the approximately 51-acre blaze, known as the Morgan Fire, near Mount Diablo have been lifted and containment is at 30%, according to Cal Fire.
“We likely won’t reach 100% containment today, but we’re pretty confident that we’ll keep the fire within the footprint it is now at that 51 acres,” said Marcus Hernandez, unit chief for Cal Fire’s Santa Clara unit.
The fire — which was estimated to be around 125 acres in its first hours, before being revised by Cal Fire to its current size thanks to “better mapping” — initially alarmed some residents, and deterred at least one from recreating on Mount Diablo this weekend.
“Uh, yeah. Don’t go,” one person wrote in response to a social media user asking whether they should go hiking in the area.
The incident was reported to the agency around 3:15 p.m. on Friday at Morgan Territory and Marsh Creek roads. By around 10 p.m. on Friday, forward progress had been stopped. The Contra Costa Community Warning System gave the “All clear” to those in evacuation warning zones at 6:50 a.m.
Hernandez said that there will be 23 engines and two helicopters working to knock the fire down today, with resources also coming from Contra Costa and Sonoma county departments. Cal Fire reports that 242 personnel are battling the fire.
There have been no reports of damaged structures, but Hernandez said that one firefighter was treated for a minor injury. That injury was first reported at 7:45 a.m. Saturday.
Cal Fire is investigating the cause, with an officer from the agency collecting data at the site yesterday, according to Hernandez.
Hernandez said that crews will continue working through the day to contain the fire.