Cal Fire firefighters are contending with multiple large wildfires across the state that all broke out over the weekend, and it seems like fire season is already in full swing, though it's only mid-June.
The Point Fire broke out just west of Geyserville Sunday, near Lake Sonoma, and quickly grew to over 800 acres within a few hours. Between Sunday night and Monday morning, the fire appeared to be held at 1,100 acres (1.6 square miles), with 400 Cal Fire personnel on the scene. As of Monday morning's update from the agency, the fire had reached 20% containment.
CalFire’s incident commander Ben Nichols said in a statement that "Fire activity subsided overnight" in the Point Fire.
There are still several hundred Sonoma County residents under evacuation orders as a result of the fire. Residents near Lake Sonoma at West Dry Creek, Fall Creek, and Stewarts Point-Skaggs Springs roads were under mandatory evacuation orders as of Sunday night, as the Chronicle reports.
The Excelsior Fire east of Sacramento also broke out Sunday, quickly growing to 876 acres as of 3 pm. This is not a Cal Fire incident and there was not yet a morning update, but it was still at 0% containment as of Sunday afternoon.
The largest fire currently burning in California is the 14,600-acre Post Fire, which broke out Saturday in Los Angeles County, about 50 miles north of Los Angeles itself.
The Post Fire crossed into Ventura County on Sunday, and has been mostly burning in and around Hungry Valley State Park. Cal Fire said the fire was spreading southeast toward Pyramid Lake on Sunday, and the lake is consequently closed today.
The California State Park Services evacuated 1,200 people from Hungry Valley Park, and evacuation orders in place for areas west of Interstate 5 between Pyramid Lake and the town of Gorman.
The Post Fire was 8% contained as of Monday morning.
The Hesperia Fire, which broke out Saturday evening just south of the city of Hesperia in San Bernardino County, has grown to 1,131 acres and is 30% contained.
Also over 1,000 acres is the Junes Fire burning in Butte County, which broke out Saturday afternoon and is now 95% contained.
About a dozen other smaller fires are also burning across California.
No injuries have been reported in any of these fires, and none seem to be burning very close to residential areas, at least as of now.
Sonoma County's Point Fire has reportedly burned several structures, as the Chronicle reports, but Cal Fire has not yet released a count, or said whether any were residential.
Top image: Cal Fire firefighters monitor a burn operation to battle the Oak Fire on July 24, 2022 near Jerseydale, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
