Firefighters construct more Pawnee fire control lines; PG&E cuts fuel break
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
CLEARLAKE OAKS, Calif. – Officials said containment continues to slowly rise on the Pawnee fire as firefighters work their way into the fire’s remote interior in the rugged backcountry.
The fire’s size continues to hold at 13,700 acres, with containment on Friday morning at 56 percent, Cal Fire said.
Approximately 658 acres were burned on the Mendocino National Forest, according to spokeswoman Punky Moore.
The number of firefighters, which earlier this week topped 3,400 personnel, has now begun to be rolled back.
Early Friday, personnel assigned totaled 3,036, along with 203 engines, 34 water tenders, 17 helicopters, 72 hand crews and 47 dozers, Cal Fire said.
Cal Fire has not yet given a date estimate for full containment.
Firefighters continued to construct and reinforce control lines in anticipation of a red flag warning that will be in effect from 11 a.m. Friday through 5 a.m Sunday, Cal Fire said.
Crews are being flown into remote regions of the fire to strengthen containment lines. Cal Fire said firefighters also are patrolling and mopping up.
Mandatory evacuation orders remain in effect for Walker Ridge, with the remaining road closure on Walker Ridge Road at Highway 20.
Cal Fire said suppression repair has begun in an effort to restore the landscape to as near a pre-fire condition as possible.
Other repairs also are under way in the fire area.
Pacific Gas and Electric spokeswoman Deanna Contreras said that the company has restored power to 600 customers.
The power to the fire area was interrupted early Sunday morning due to the fire impacting PG&E facilities and the company shutting off power to the lines at the request of Cal Fire for the safety of the first responders. “This was not a public safety power shutoff situation,” Contreras said.
She said PG&E has identified 30 poles, six crossarms and 39 spans of wire that need to be replaced in or near the Double Eagle Ranch subdivision, where residents were allowed to return on Thursday. The Spring Valley Lakes evacuation order was lifted on Wednesday.
PG&E has customer care experts available at a PG&E mobile command vehicle in Spring Valley at the Spring Valley Pantry Market, located on New Long Valley Road.
Crews working for PG&E’s vegetation management department started clearing a fuel break on Monday, at the request of Cal Fire, near Clearlake, Contreras said.
She said the crews are clearing a 100-foot-wide swath of brush and trees alongside and under an electric transmission line that runs through Clearlake Oaks. The work to create an approximately six-mile fuel break will continue for the next few days.
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