Creek Fire live updates: 200,000 acres burned, but evacuations ease as containment hits 10%

Sep. 13--The Creek Fire continued to burn through the Sierra National Forest and foothill communities, surpassing 200,000 acres Sunday morning.

Full containment is not expected until mid-October, and the cause of the fire remains under investigation.

According to a report from Cal Fire, stronger winds over the fire will allow for better mixing and less smoke, and winds over the highest peaks in the area could hit 35 mph.

The change in conditions is expected to lead to more active fire behavior. Containment lines were being constructed and strengthened in several areas including China Peak, Cherry Valley, Blue Canyon, Auberry, Shaver Lake and Huntington Lake.

The winds will clear the smoke layer over portions of the fire, allowing for the use of air crews.

In Madera County, the Creek Fire was most active Saturday in the northwest, moving toward the Minaret Mountains.

Conditions in the North Zone were expected to be more active Sunday -- as the smoke layer lifts, it is expected to spread faster. According to fire officials, the fire is expected to move toward South Fork Bluffs, Central Camp, Lake Creek, Mugler Falls, Jackass Meadow and McCreary Trailhead; also, in the Browns Creek, Central Camp, Camino Falls, Graveyard Meadows and Piyau Dome areas.

The wildfire started Sept. 4 near Big Creek and Huntington Lake and ranks among the 20 biggest in California history in terms of acreage.

The August Complex Fire, which started Aug. 16 in the Mendocino National Forest in Northern California, is the largest at 877,477 acres.

8 p.m.: Creek Fire containment grows slightly

The Creek Fire reached 10% containment Sunday night, according to Cal Fire spokesman Daniel Ramey.

Acreage remained unchanged from the morning update of 201,908. The number of fire personnel assigned has grown to 2,503.

Crews on Sunday also dealt with smoke from the Castle Fire burning to the south in Tulare County as part of the SQF complex in Sequoia National Forest. But they also got a break from some of the heavy smoke from the local fire that allowed the sun to pierce through.

That increases the ability to use air crews to attack the flames, but also can trigger an increase in fire activity as the winds kick up.

Crews also continued to trim or cut down damaged and otherwise hazardous trees, with the next phases of the response including efforts to repair power lines in the area, Ramey said.

A "tactical patrol" was sent up Highway 168 to search and extinguish spot fires and destroy hazardous trees.

4:20 p.m.: Some evacuation orders now warnings

The Madera County Sheriff's Office announced the partial scaling back of some evacuation orders, changing them into evacuation warnings.

Orders are mandatory, indicating an imminent threat to life or property; warnings indicate a potential threat.

The warnings are in effect for the following evacuation zones: M30, 31, 32, 38, 47, 37, 46, 26, 35, 23, 32, 28, 29, 27. A map of the zones can be found here. The areas are open only to residents.

"Residents in the area need to be aware that there is still a potential for evacuations and need to be prepared to evacuate at a moments notice," the sheriff's office reported in its update.

3:40 p.m.: Bullfrog Fire grows slightly

A smaller, less threatening fire near the Creek Fire continues to grow.

The Bullfrog Fire, which started Sept. 9 east of the Creek Fire, was at 1,200 acres Sunday, Sierra National Service spokesman Alex Olow said.

Just two engines are assigned, and it's being handled by Sierra National Forest personnel. The fire is mainly burning timber, litter, brush and short grass.

"Active fire behavior has been observed with running, short crown runs and spotting," Olow reported in a news release.

No structures are threatened.

Fire personnel are taking advantage of the natural features in the Dinkey Lakes Wilderness to contain it.

2:20 p.m.: Creek Fire air quality readings

Air quality around the Creek Fire continues to be an issue, particularly to the west and north of the wildfire in the Sequoia National Forest.

The Air Quality Index in Oakhurst at 1 p.m. Sunday was 551, well into the hazardous range, and one of the Top 10 highest in the country.

Weed, near the border of California and Oregon, was at the top of that list with an AQI of 1,184, according to IQAir.

An AQI of 301 to 500 is considered to be hazardous, 201 to 300 to be very unhealthy, 151 to 200 unhealthy, 101 to 150 unhealthy for sensitive groups, 51 to 100 moderate and 0 to 50 good.

The AQI in Fresno Sunday afternoon was in an unhealthy range, at 180.

1:05 p.m.: Latest from Huntington Lake

Businesses and cabins on the northeast side of Huntington Lake appeared OK along Huntington Lake Road late Sunday morning, including Lakeshore Resort and a general store, restaurant and post office around it.

Heading west on Huntington Lake Road, there was obvious destruction.

A number of cabins at Upper Line Lane were leveled near a Camp Silver Fir Cabins sign. In one area at the start of the road, six brick chimneys rising from smoking ashes near a creek were all that was left.

On one cement foundation of a destroyed home, the year 1959 was inscribed beside the names Debbie, Tammy and Florence. Broken coffee mugs lay scattered nearby. At another destroyed cabin above it, a small wooden bear holding a fish with the words "welcome" stood beside twisted metal and other rubble, including a small destroyed fishing boat and the frame of a burned ATV off-road vehicle.

Todd Darling, a filmmaker and journalist, said he thinks his family cabin in the area was destroyed. He said he's "sad beyond measure."

"There's a fire true enough, but the extremity of this is totally a climate event," Darling said of a "fire tornado" that came through the area.

A fire spokesman called it a rare occurrence.

"It basically ripped all the trees, roots and all," Fire spokesman Edwin Zuniga said of the fire tornado. "It's a rare sight to see."

Zuniga thought that may have occurred earlier in the week, during the red-flag wind warning days. But the fire tornado created its own weather pattern. The winds pushing through it create its own circular motion and "it just takes these winds and keeps going," he said.

Recently, he said there's been minimal winds in the area, but that could change Sunday. Some smoke was expected to rise and be blown out Sunday, which is also a concern for increased fire activity.

He said some vegetation that hasn't burned around Huntington could still reignite but as a whole, "nothing we're too worried about." He described fires in the Huntington areas as slow burning, moving east of the lake early Sunday afternoon. A fire in Blue Canyon remained a concern, with firefighters ready to continue defending the village of Shaver.

Zuniga didn't have an estimate of how many homes had burned in the Huntington Lake area early in the afternoon. He said damage assessment teams continue to survey wreckage and asked residents for their patience for official notification.

Some spots with more fire activity farther north in predominately wilderness areas include Jose Basin -- making a run for Central Camp -- Jackass Meadow, and the Dinkey Creek area, Zuniga said. Firefighters are also working to keep it out of the eastern Sierra.

Zuniga said the fire is more active around its northern edge, and that containment lines were put in place to protect many existing structures.

He said hand and bulldozer lines are "paying off" and have protected a number of structures in the Shaver and Huntington lake areas, including a cluster of cabins he visited on the south side of Highway 168 that weren't damaged.

In this area, the blaze was going east, he said, while standing near Lakeshore Resort.

Fire officials also continue to work with the Forest Service and ranchers to try and get their livestock out of more active areas primary in the north, where the blaze is pushing toward some campgrounds, he said. Firefighters are also working to protect some structures in that area.

1 p.m.: Creek Fire injury updates

Fire officials have listed 21 civilian injuries and no fatalities due to the Creek Fire, and no firefighter injuries or fatalities.

The majority of those injuries stem from evacuations from Mammoth Pool in the Sierra National Forest where more than 200 people were evacuated last week after they were trapped by the rapidly-spreading Creek Fire, a Madera County Sheriff's Office spokesman said.

In addition, two deputies were treated for heat-related injuries early in the incident.

Two patients from Mammoth Pool remain in fair condition at Community Regional Medical Center, according to a hospital spokesperson.

11:30 a.m. Mammoth Pool vehicle retrieval

The Madera County Sheriff's Office is making preparations to take people to vehicles abandoned at Mammoth Pool or on Mammoth Pool Road during the mandatory evacuation due to the Creek Fire.

Vehicle owners are asked to email the following details to [email protected].

-- Full name

-- Phone number

-- Vehicle description

-- License plate number

-- Name(s) on vehicle registration

-- Location of vehicle

-- Current address

Once information is emailed, the Sheriff's Office will communicate directly with vehicle owners.

11:20 a.m.: An evacuation warning lifted in Madera County

Evacuation Warning Areas have been lifted in parts of Madera County, according to the Sheriff's Office.

These zones include the Highway 41 corridor between Road 200 and Bass Lake Road (Road 222), which are now listed in green on the county's map of impacted areas. All other mandatory evacuation orders and evacuations warnings in Madera County remain in effect.

Once the Madera County Sheriff's Office and fire management teams have determined an evacuation area is safe, residents will be notified they can return through the MCALERT system, Facebook and the Madera County website.

Those alerts will contain instructions on when and how residents can return home, as well as safety messages and special instructions for returning to an area that may have burned.

Fresno and Madera county residents can sign up for alerts here:

Fresno County: Fresno County Sheriff's Office, sign up at t.co/Otack9NyKc?amp=1

Madera County: Madera County Emergency Warning Systems, at mcalert.org

11 a.m.: The view up Highway 168

From Highway 168, the town of Shaver Lake appears unchanged from earlier this week, with businesses in the village standing late Sunday morning.

Heavy smoke persists throughout the area. Small flames were burning on both sides of the road above Shaver just past a sign for Tamarack Lodge around 7,000 feet in elevation. Further up, large flames and a big black plume of smoke was visible on a ridge across from China Peak Mountain Resort around 11 a.m. Most buildings at the ski resort still appear untouched, including a number of mobile homes in the back of the property, although some were destroyed. A sheriff's official at Big Creek Bridge, close to the large flare-up, described the scene up the road at Huntington Lake as "apocalyptic," including "fire tornadoes" that tore through the area.

A deer and spotted fawn were seen darting across 168.

10:15 a.m.: Updated damage assessments

Damage assessments from the Creek Fire are about 30% complete according to fire officials, who are listing 365 residential, commercial or other structures destroyed and 32 damaged.

The Madera County Sheriff's Office is contacting property owners directly, and Fresno County has set up a website for properties that have been assessed.

More than 14,000 structures are currently threatened by the wildfire.

9:30 a.m.: Mims to take part in roundtable with Trump

Fresno County Sheriff Margaret Mims will take part in a roundtable discussion with President Donald Trump on Monday in Sacramento that will address wildfires that have burned more than 3 million acres across the state, damaged or destroyed nearly 4,800 structures and claimed 20 lives.

Sheriff's spokesman Tony Botti said Mims will discuss everything related to Fresno County and the Creek Fire, which is expected to burn in the Sierra National Forest until mid-October.

The meeting, which will include state and federal fire officials, will be held at McClellan Park, a former Air Force based turned business park that is used by Cal Fire to organize wildfire response efforts.

7:45 a.m.: High country vehicle retrieval

The Fresno County Sheriff's Office has started to make arrangements to provide transportation for vehicle owners to retrieve their vehicles, once it is safe, in high country areas including China Peak, Mono Hot Springs, Edison Lake and Florence Lake.

The majority of those vehicle owners had to be evacuated by air.

The Sheriff's Office is asking for the following information:

-- First and last name

-- Phone number

-- License plate number

-- Vehicle description

-- Name(s) on vehicle registration

-- Location of vehicle

The information should be sent by email to [email protected].

Members of the public who have already contacted the Sheriff's Office and provided that information do not need to do so again.

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