LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The steady, intense work on the lines of the Jerusalem fire yielded important gains for firefighters on Thursday, who both raised containment and kept the fire from taking another large jump in acreage.
By Thursday night, Cal Fire reported the blaze had burned 24,000 acres, with containment rising to 50 percent.
That change in size accounted for a 500-acre increase of the fire since Thursday morning, the smallest gain over the course of a day that has been reported since the fire started Aug. 9 in the Jerusalem Valley northeast of Middletown, later moving into Napa and Yolo counties.
That smaller acreage increase is just one of many victories firefighters have won on the incident to date – chief among them, ensuring no structures have been destroyed or burned, and no one has been injured.
However, the incident is far from over, and mandatory and advisory evacuations remain in place for nearby homes, with a Red Cross evacuation center open at Kelseyville High School and assistance with animal evacuation offered through the Lake Evacuation and Protection group.
Evacuation and shelter information is available at http://cdfdata.fire.ca.gov/incidents/incidents_details_info?incident_id=1193 .
Committed resources on the incident as of Thursday night included 2,214 firefighting personnel, 164 engines, 62 hand crews, 30 dozers, 21 water tenders, 15 helicopters and four air tankers, Cal Fire said.
The Thursday gain in containing more area on the Jerusalem fire puts it on target for Cal Fire's estimated full containment date of Aug. 17.
On the nearby Rocky fire, no change in acreage or containment were reported by Thursday night.
Cal Fire's last update on the fire, given on Thursday morning, was for 69,438 acres and 95-percent containment, with full containment expected to be reached on Saturday.
Supervisor Jim Comstock gave updates on the fires to community members who attended the Middletown Area Town Hall's regular meeting on Thursday evening.
Comstock said the winds – which picked up into Thursday night – were blowing the fire away from communities and out into very remote, rugged terrain.
However, he cautioned of the incident, “It is not going to end soon.”
He said areas in the back country – including Petticoat, Dollar and Bishop mountains – “burned in rapid succession” and now are “burned slick,” looking like barren moonscapes.
Cal Fire and Lake County Sheriff's Office investigators are investigating the possible causes, Comstock said.
He said he remained cautiously optimistic regarding weather conditions, noting the wind direction could change over the weekend.
Beyond the Rocky and Jerusalem incidents, Comstock reminded community members that a long fire season still stretches ahead.
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Jerusalem fire: Incident reaches 50-percent containment, acreage increase held low
- Elizabeth Larson
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