FRESNO COUNTY – With 91% containment and overnight rain, progress on fighting the Garnet Fire has continued in a positive direction.
As of 9 a.m. Sept. 19, the Sierra National Forest reported that the Garnet Fire had burned 59,844 acres, or about 93.5 square miles, and had more than 1,500 firefighting personnel working on it. No changes were observed in fire activity on Sept. 18 and crews reported that light rain fell on the fire overnight — much less than what fell over the Valley at the fire command camp in Clovis.
While the rain helps with fire suppression efforts, it did make it difficult for crews to access the fire lines, Donald Fregulia, California Interagency Incident Management Team 5 operations section chief, said in a morning update. Fregulia said teams would assess conditions off the paved roads in the morning to determine when they would be able to move equipment off the pavement.
“We don’t want to make more of a mess or have any safety issues out there by running equipment where it’s really wet,” Fregulia said.
Fregulia said fire suppression repair is in full wing across the entire fire. Fire suppression repair is when crews repair work done to suppress the fire, including chipping and water barring, which is making sure water doesn’t run off and cause additional problems or sedimentation.
On the north edge of the fire, crews are continuing to address the fire in McKinley Grove.
“We’ve really completed the work below the McKinley Grove Road and now we’re kind of advancing into the upper grove where it’s safe to do so, making it safe for the firefighters,” Fregulia said. “We’re dedicating two 20-person hotshot crews in there to try to mitigate any damage to those big Giant Sequoia trees, so that work will continue today and in the days to come.”
