Rain, low winds, higher humidity aid firefighters across California
Officials fear flash floods and mudslides triggered by precipitation could hamper efforts.
Lower wind speeds, rain and high levels of humidity helped firefighters battling blazes across the state Sunday, though officials feared that a series of mudslides and flash floods from the precipitation could hinder their progress.
"We have a good marine layer pushing in," said Jason Meyer, a spokesman for the state Department of Forestry and Fire Protection who is watching the Basin Complex fire near Big Sur. "The fire's kind of laying down a little bit; it's giving us some time to work."
That blaze has scorched more than 117,000 acres and destroyed 27 homes and 32 other buildings. Meyer said the fire is 61% contained and that officials project it will be fully controlled by the end of the month. So far, more than $42.2 million has been spent and nearly 2,200 people have been assigned to fight the fire, he said.
Firefighters had worried that flames could move further east and reach the historic Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, but Meyer said Sunday that the structure was no longer threatened.
Officials earlier issued a mandatory evacuation for 217 homes in the Tassajara Road area, though five Buddhist monks stayed behind to care for the facility. Crews cut fire lines around the center to help protect it, Meyer said.
Also on Sunday, officials reopened a stretch of Pacific Coast Highway in Big Sur that had been closed for weeks because of the blaze.
Since late June, more than 21,000 fire personnel have helped battle nearly 1,800 fires around the state, the bulk of which began after a fierce lightning storm. All but 288 of the fires have been contained, and together the blazes have burned more than 825,000 acres.
In Butte County, firefighters said Sunday that the blaze that has burned 53,000 acres is now 65% contained. About 10,000 residents were allowed to return to their homes Saturday.
Forestry department spokesman Tobie Edmonds said humidity was expected to be about 25% and that low winds up to 8 mph would help.
In nearby Concow, where a charred body was found in a blackened home Friday, Edmonds said crews were evaluating the area for residents' reentry and looking for hot spots and burned trees that could fall on homes.
In addition to the fatality, 26 people there were injured, including firefighters with sprained ankles, cut hands and mild heat exhaustion, Edmonds said.
Near Goleta, the 9,443-acre Gap fire was 85% contained and crews were controlling flare-ups in chaparral in mostly unpopulated areas.
