Creek Fire live updates: Spot fires near China Peak; how to get back to homes or cars

Sep. 19--Some evacuation orders have been lifted as of Saturday morning and officials are advising people how to get back to homes or cars abandoned during the Creek Fire.

People in Fresno awoke to a second day of clean air Saturday, though crews continue to battle the fire, which has burned 248,256 acres in Fresno and Madera counties.

The fire was still 22% contained Saturday morning.

The Creek Fire has forced a total of 1,024 families to evacuate from the region.

11 a.m.: Damaged property: 'It's just been agonizing'

The fire has destroyed 842 structures, with about 90% of the survey complete on Saturday, according to CalFire public information officer Chris Thompson.

CalFire runs an online tool where residents can look up their address, if the damage there has already been assessed.

But some properties remain unlisted, so people continue to visit the command center at Sierra High School searching for answers.

Melissa Proudian, a Fresno lawyer, showed up on Saturday morning to try to find out if her summer home, a cabin off Providence Creek Road, still stands.

"It's just been agonizing," Proudian said. "We're trying to find out every single day what's going on and we just can't get a definite answer."

The area remains under evacuation orders.

"It was a huge investment of time, labor and love and to have it all gone would be really sad," she said. "All our friends are praying and hoping good thoughts for us."

Helicopters, tankers return to fight

As the smoke lifted over the past two days, CalFire was able to bring in fixed wing aircrafts and helicopters to help fight the fires, Thompson said Saturday morning.

Most of the fire activity remains in the northern flanks, which are mostly wild forest areas. The clearer air also brought gusts of wind, although acreage had not increased much, Thompson said. The fire is contained near the most populated areas to the west and south.

In the northern part of the fire zone, the fire is most active in the Whisky Falls and Browns Meadow area.

Spot fires near China Peak

"A lot of spot fires" continue to burn around China Peak, Thompson said, as the area has burned in patches. Those are difficult to reach because firefighters don't want to be caught between the fire line and unburned trees or brush, he explained. The ski resort area remains largely unharmed.

In the southern part, fire growth was expected to be slow. Firefighters are focusing on stopping growth of the fire east of Huntington Lake around China Peak. That fire could potentially connect with another portion of fire moving south around Mount Tom.

But the fire is expected to slow as it hits rocky areas in higher elevations.

"We feel pretty good about it," Thompson said.

After winds Friday night died down, weather was expected to remain calm for the next several days, according to the Saturday morning Creek Fire update. But it will get warmer and drier over the next few days, which is expected to moderately increase fire activity.

No more rain is expected, though humidity is expected to remain high, which can keep the fire from growing.

Crews are continuing to focus on protecting communities and building a containment line around the fire. They are using bulldozers and other heavy equipment and firefighters working with hand tools in some areas. Significant challenges to completing the line remain as it moves into steep, mountainous terrain where bulldozers cannot go.

Some evacuation warnings lifted

Some evacuation warnings were lifted south of the fire, in the Humphreys Station and Meadow Lakes areas. To find specifics, visit the Creek Fire evacuation map online.

But Clovis Police officers were parked at the intersection of Auberry Road and Jose Basin, near Mono Wind Casino, Saturday morning, blocking the road into Meadow Lakes due to ongoing evacuation orders.

Firefighters and utility workers continue to clear hot spots in the area.

How to get back to your home or car

As areas previously off limits begin to reopen, the Fresno County Sheriff's Office has instructions on how to be allowed back in. They apply to both homeowners and people who had to abandon cars or RVs at campsites in the high Sierra.

Once evacuation orders have been lifted, residents must have a document with their address on it to get back in. It can be a driver's license, utility bill, or similar document.

Some residents may have to travel through an evacuated red zone to get to their home in a yellow zone. People should not linger in red zones and can be arrested for doing so, according to the sheriff's department.

The sheriff's office also is finalizing plans to shuttle people into the high Sierra who abandoned vehicles at campsites.

Those people should email [email protected], and include their first and last name, phone number, license plate number, vehicle description, name on vehicle registration and location of the vehicle.

They are encouraged to answer calls from blocked numbers as the sheriff's department could be trying to reach them.

The department is prioritizing retrieval of cars parked at campsites, not homes.

Firefighter who died in Southern California honored

Firefighters working on the Creek Fire honored the firefighter who was killed in Southern California on Thursday while battling a wildfire sparked by a gender-reveal party.

Firefighters and military personnel working on the fire stood as a firefighter played "Amazing Grace" on bagpipes, in a video shared on the U.S. Forest Service/Sierra National Forest Facebook page.

The fallen firefighter was killed in the San Bernardino National Forest while working on the El Dorado Fire about 75 miles east of Los Angeles. The death is being investigated.

SQF Complex fire grows, Bullfrog fire continues

The SQF Complex Fire grew to 133,488 acres and remained 12% contained as of Saturday morning.

The fire, a combination of the Castle Fire and the Shotgun Fire, is burning in the wilderness east of Porterville.

Firefighters are focusing on the growing western edge of the fire.

Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park remain closed due to the nearby fire and hazardous air quality. To the north, Yosemite National Park also remains closed with unhealthy air quality from several fires.

The Bullfrog Fire burning 43 miles northeast of Clovis remained at about 900 acres Saturday. It was still uncontained.

Air quality

Most Fresnans awoke Friday and Saturday to healthy air quality, following nearly a week of very unhealthy air where residents were advised to stay inside.

Saturday morning the air quality was at level 1, the healthiest zone. Air quality was expected to rise into the moderate level 2 -- where only sensitive individuals should consider reducing prolonged or vigorous activities outside -- in Fresno County later in the day, according to the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.

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