There were evacuations Friday in Bay Point and Concord, as the Point Fire in Contra Costa County grew to more than 470 acres, but was 40% contained as of Saturday.
This is already a terrible weekend for California wildfires, as the Park Fire in Butte and Tehama counties has now burnt up more than 348,000 acres, making it the seventh-largest wildfire in California history. That wildfire is currently 0% contained, so the Park Fire news may get worse as the weekend progresses.
Point fire. Concord bay point.
Thank you to the people that helped evacuate my family. I’m forever ever grateful. pic.twitter.com/V9WwWKg4HJ
But now we have the bad news that there’s a raging fire in Contra Costa County too, as NBC Bay Area reports that the newer Point Fire has burned at least 470 acres, and prompted evacuation warnings and orders in Concord and Bay Point.
#PointFire breached the ridge in a Bay Point neighborhood earlier. One neighbor told us she and her husband grabbed their 4 chickens, 4 dogs and one cat and "just took off." https://t.co/yOonbgSO02 pic.twitter.com/KxtVSMsFQW
— KTVU (@KTVU) July 27, 2024
The Point Fire was first reported at about 3:20 pm Friday afternoon, according to SFGate, at Evora and Nichols roads north of Highway 4 in Bay Point. The fast-moving fire grew to more than 200 acres by 6 pm, and evacuation orders were issued in Bay Point, while Concord got evacuation warnings.
Quite a scene here along Caskey St. in Bay Point. The vegetation fire appears to be under control, but plenty of fire retardant left behind on the streets #PointFire @nbcbayarea pic.twitter.com/VF2Q3lqu6L
— Pete Suratos (@PeteSuratosTV) July 27, 2024
Cal Fire reported at 7:36 am Saturday that at least 471 acres have burned and the fire was 40% contained. At that point, all evacuation orders were downgraded to warnings.
Firefighters continue to battle a brush fire that has sparked evacuation warnings and orders in Contra Costa County. https://t.co/iJagZEYcq7 #PointFire pic.twitter.com/rSqXR7wf0Z
— Kristofer Noceda (@krisnoceda) July 27, 2024
The Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office gave the all-clear on all evacuation notices later Saturday morning. There are no reported injuries thus far with the Point Fire, and its cause still unknown and under investigation.
This fire is not to be confused with last month's Point Fire in Sonoma County, which eventually burned more than 1,200 acres.
This is a developing story and may be updated.
Related: Park Fire Grows to 180,000 Acres, 134 Structures Confirmed Destroyed [SFist]
Image: @shadowspank1 via Twitter