Update 6:42 p.m.
The King fire has grown to 27,930 acres, according to fire officials. Containment stands at 5 percent.
King Fire Evacuation Update 09/17/14 @ 1700 Hours
This is an update from the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office regarding the MANDATORY EVACUATION of the following areas.
Added evacuation area for Crystal Basin:
Granite Springs, Ice House Road (east side), Pickett Pen Road, Rubicon Trail, Windmiller Trail, Wrights Lake Road, including all Forest Service roads, trails, and access roads in the Crystal Basin recreation area between Ice House Road and Desolation Wilderness, north of the Highway 50 corridor.
Ice House Reservoir
Loon Lake
Rockbound Lake
Rubicon Reservoir
Update: 6:30 p.m.
The King Fire in El Dorado County continues to burn and is now at 18, 544 acres. containment stands at 5 percent, with 2,466 personnel assigned to the incident.
The mandatory closure to all residences south of Highway 50 between Fresh Pond and Riverton has been changed to a voluntary advisory.
Officials say they expect the fire to continue growing to the east, north, and west. It is burning in several canyon bottoms and up the ridges. Nighttime wiinds will push the flames further down the drainages.
CapRadio has compiled a list of resources with the latest information on the King Fire.
EVACUATIONS:
Update 3 p.m.
This is an update from the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office regarding the evacuation status of the following areas.
Mandatory Evacuation: Volcanoville, Quintette, Blodgett, Upper Ice House: as of 09/17 @ 1500 hrs
Bear Foot Road, Bear State Road, Blodgett Forest Road, Bojac Court, Bootjack Mine Road, Bottle Hill (east end one mile north of Wentworth Springs), Carey Ave, Cassill Mine Road, Cecil Lane, Cedar Cable Road, Chiquita Bypass, Christmas Tree Lane, Country Road, Coyote Court, Ditch Camp Road, Dry Lakes Trail, Dusty Camp Road, El Bosque, Garden Tower Lane, Harmony Lane, Haven Ridge Road, Helix Flat Avenue, Hobby Horse Lane, Homewood Drive, Horse Power Drive, Kentucky Flat Road, Lake Avenue, Little Silver Road, Lodgepole Lane, Lofty Peak Lane, Logging Road, Loop Cutoff Road, Loop Road, Merkel Drive, Middle Loop Road, Midway Loop Road, Mount Cedar Road, Narrow Way, Onion Valley Road, Oso Mesa Court, Otter Creek Road, Our Place Road, Patchwork Lane, Paymaster Mine Road, Peavine Point Road, Piolet Creek Road, Plum Creek Road, Point Lane, Quintette Court, Ringtail Place, Ringtail Road, Robs Cabin Trail, Rock Creek Road (one mile south from Wentworth Springs), Rubicon Road, Sand Mountain Boulevard, Shotgun Lane, Sleigh Bell, Snowy Way, South Creek Road, South Fork Trail, Spring Tunnel Mine Road, Star Lane Thumper Lane, Stickerbrush Trail, Sunset Peak Lane, Tall Timber Road, Tipton Hill Court, Tipton Hill Road, Tinsel Trail, Tricometric Trail, Trinity Trail, Tunnel Hill Loop Road, Tunnel Hill Loop, Tunnel HIll Road, Un Road, Volcanoville Road, Wentworth Springs Road (east of Balderston Road), White Fir Road, Wild Horse Trail, Wolfridge Road, Woodpecker Road, Yuletide Way, 11 Pines Road, 12 Mile Court, 12 Mile Road.
SHELTER:
The Red Cross Evacuation Center will be located at 6530 Wentworth Springs Road in Georgetown.
EVACUATIONS:
Evacuations via USFS: Note- The mandatory closure to all residences south of Highway 50 between Fresh Pond and Riverton has been changed to a voluntary advisory.
Forebay Area: Partial Re-Population - Forebay Road (south of Moon Lane), Alpine Villa Lane, Canyon Edge Road, Caprine Hill Trail, Cayman Court, Deep Haven Road, El Camino Drive, Flatlander Lane, Gail Court, Homestead, Katydid Lane, King of the Mountain Court, King of the Mountain Drive, Kodiak Trail, Moon Lane, Mountain Dew, Romer Boulevard, Sherman Court, Sherman Way, Sunshadow Drive, Terrace Drive
Mandatory Evacuation Orders are still in effect for the following areas:
Still under Mandatory Evacuation: Forebay Road (north of Moon Lane), Homestead, Randolph Canyon Road
Crystal Basin - Hwy 50 east of Fresh Pond to Icehouse, north on Icehouse Road to Wentworth Springs, west to just above Quintette, to include campgrounds and businesses. Union Valley Reservoir area, Yellow Jacket Campground, Wolf Creek Campground, Stumpy Meadows Campground, Fashoda Campground, Big Hill Lookout Road, Big Hill Road, Blodgett Forest Road, Bridle Path Way, Forest Road, Frontier Road, Helix Flat Ave, Icehouse Road (west side), Jones Fork Power House Road, Middle Loop Road, Mosquito Road, Onion Valley Road, Outer Limits Lane, Little Silver Road, Loop road, Peavine Point Road, Peavine ridge Road, Plum Creek Road, Piolet Creek Road, Robbs Peak Road, Sand Mountain Road, SMUDEA (permittee site), Spring Road, Sunset Drive, Tricometric Trail, Wentworth Springs (south side, east of Pilot Creek Road), and 11 Pines Road.
The entire community of Swansboro, north of the South Fork of the American River between Brushy Creek and Rock Creek
All roads north of Pony Express Trail from Forebay Road east through Bullion Bend. White Meadows Road and Spring Valley Road.
Voluntary Evacuation Advisories - All evacuations have been lifted for the communities of Gold Ridge and Lakewood Spring. For residences south of Highway 50 between Fresh Pond and Riverton the advisory has been downgraded to voluntary. A Voluntary Evacuation Advisory is still in place for Volcanoville, Quintette, and residents located west of Forebay Road from Blair Road to Pony Express Trail. Additional Voluntary Evacuations Advisories are in place for Badger Hill Road, Marmot Road, Lucky Mine Road, Old Blair Mill Road, Apple Creek court, Applemont Ranch, Chickaree Lane, Longs Creek, Quick Silver Road, Quick Silver Court, and Baltimore Road. - All evacuations have been lifted for the communities of Gold Ridge and Lakewood Spring. For residences south of Highway 50 between Fresh Pond and Riverton the advisory has been downgraded to voluntary. A Voluntary Evacuation Advisory is still in place for Volcanoville, Quintette, and residents located west of Forebay Road from Blair Road to Pony Express Trail. Additional Voluntary Evacuations Advisories are in place for Badger Hill Road, Marmot Road, Lucky Mine Road, Old Blair Mill Road, Apple Creek court, Applemont Ranch, Chickaree Lane, Longs Creek, Quick Silver Road, Quick Silver Court, and Baltimore Road.
Contacts:
- Air Quality Hotline (530) 621-7507
- Red Cross Shelter 3520 Carson Road, Camino (916) 204-5268
- Cal Fire Hotline (530) 647-5218
- Animal Control Issues (530) 621-5795
- Animal Shelter (530) 621-7631
- El Dorado County Fire Hotline (530) 642-7263
- For fire info. [email protected]
ROAD CLOSURES:
King Fire: Current road closures 09/17/14 @ 1 P.M.
- Ice House Road from Highway 50 to Wentworth Springs Road
- Wentworth Springs Road for Quintette to Ice House Road
- White Meadows @ Ice House Road
- Rock Creek @ 193
- Mosquito Road @ Union Ridge Road
- Highway 50 (Sly Park to Union Ridge)
- Forebay @ Deep Haven – Residents only by EDSO
- Forebay @ Blair – Residents only by EDSO
- Canyon Edge @ Randolph Canyon - hard closure by CHP
Road Closures:
- Ice House Road from Highway 50 to Wentworth Springs
- Wentworth Springs from Quintette to Icehouse Road
- White Meadows @ Ice House Road
- Rock Creek @ 193
- Mosquito Road @ Union Ridge Road
- Highway 50 (Sly Park to Union Ridge)
- Forebay @ Deep Haven – Residents only by EDSO
- Forebay @ Blair – Residents only by EDSO
- Canyon Edge @ Randolph Canyon - hard closure by CHP
RESOURCES:
SHELTER:
- Camino Seventh-day Adventist Church at 3520 Carson Road, Camino, CA 95709
SCHOOL CLOSURES:
- Pollock Pines schools closed Wednesday
UPDATE 10 a.m. - Bob Moffit talks with CalFire PIO Robert Little about the unique challenges posed by the King Fire and why it's so hard to contain.
“Crews will continue to aggressively fight the fire. It’s a canyon based fire so it’s moving in multiple directions," explains Little. “At night it tends to creep down the canyons with down canyon winds in a Westerly direction.”
During the day the fire pushes north against El Dorado National Forest. As a result it's difficult to determine what the fire will do next.
“It’s like trying control a seven-headed snake,” says Little. “It’s unpredictable based on the time of day but we do our best based on our weather observations and what we’ve learned from the day before.”
The fire is currently threatening 1,632 single family homes, none have been destroyed.
“Right now our biggest priorities are to protect two communities – one being Pollock Pines, which is south of the fire. The other is Swansboro, Mosquito area.”
With the fire growing every night most and more firefighters are coming on to the scene from state and federal agencies as well as local municiple fire departments.
“We really bolstered our ranks today. We’re at 2,519 personnel. The bulk of those are ground forces,” says Little. “We don’t go home at night; we continue to put people on the fire lines 24 hours a day.”
Little says he hasn’t heard of firefighters having to work 24 hour shifts, but he wouldn’t be surprised if it's happening.
“It’s something our forces are used to and it’s something that can happen on these larger fires," says Little. "When these folks are called to protect forest land, lives and property if it’s a 24-hour shift they need to serve then that’s what they serve. But, safety being paramount - if those folks are fatigued or hungry or need to be supported we pull them off the line as needed.”
Photos from the front lines of the King Fire by Matthew Henderson.
7:30 A.M. The King Fire burning in El Dorado county has grown significantly overnight.
It has now charred 18,544 acres.
CalFire says the fire is burning rapidly in steep terrain in the South Fork of the American River and Silver Creek Canyons. More than 2,500 firefighters are fighting the flames from the ground and the air.
Hundreds of people have been evacuated and 500 homes are threatened.
Highway 50 is closed due to the fire between Sly Park and Fresh Pond, and Pollock Pines schools have again canceled classes for the day.
Containment remains at 5 percent -- that hasn't changed in several days.
Capital Public Radio Staff
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