Despite a day of intense smoke and aggressive and “dynamic fire activity” in the Sierra National Forest, firefighters have continued to hold their primary lines against the Garnet fire, which has now burned 46,619 acres and is 14% contained.
The fire scorched 10,000 more acres on Sunday, according to the U.S. Forest Service, with much of that fire growth exploding dramatically on the northwestern front and fueling giant columns of smoke that could be seen for miles.
Evacuation orders were issued to three more zones in Fresno County by Sunday afternoon, including the Dinkey Creek Campground area and communities along the western edge of the fire and north of Pine Flat Lake.
Fire officials, in a briefing Sunday, explained that the blaze had crossed Dinkey Creek and was driven rapidly uphill due to the steep topography and shifts in weather. Firefighters had anticipated that the blaze would eventually move in this direction and reiterated that the main body of the fire remained inside primary containment lines and that things were still going as planned.
“It is going right toward the primary line — that has been the plan for quite some time now. It’s certainly going there at a faster pace than it has in past days, but even that is not unexpected,” Forest Supervisor Dean Gould said in the briefing.
“We do have a lot of positive trends going on with this incident, in spite of looking out the window and seeing that large column [of smoke] today,” Gould added. “Our primary line is looking very good — it’s getting stronger, literally by the hour, and we’ve got additional resources coming in from our partners to solidify it all the more.”
Crews have also continued to work on northern containment lines along McKinley Grove Road, where the fire has come within three miles of a cherished grove of roughly 200 giant sequoias. Hundreds of firefighters have been battling the blaze there, with some laying down sprinkler lines to shoot water onto the ancient towering trees.
Crews will be working overnight to reinforce lines and bolster fire breaks, authorities said, and a fresh rotation of firefighters will be coming in by morning to relieve those who have been on the front lines since the fire first broke out two weeks ago, on Aug. 24.
Dan Patterson, a fire behavior analyst with the U.S. Forest Service, said there would be long days ahead but the weather was looking promising.
“The forecast for the next five days is showing a fairly stable weather pattern — actually kind of ticking cooler and wetter,” he said, “which is favorable for the firefighters out there.”
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