SUNOL (CBS SF) — Flames roared over a ridge covered with tinder-dry brush early Monday as the out-of-control Marsh Creek Complex fire continued its advance southwest of the San Antonio Reservoir.
Calfire reported early Monday that the blaze had doubled in size overnight to 1,775 acres. At least 10 homes have been evacuated and firefighters have zero containment.
Firefighters were trying to take advantage of calm, humid overnight conditions to slow the advancing wall of flames. Crews manning bulldozers worked overnight, building containment lines, but the fire continued to rage.
People who live in the area remained on edge, hoping additional evacuations would not be needed.
“We’re trying (to halt the blaze) at the end of Welch Creek back into the Reservoir,” said Assistant Fire Chief Nick Luby for Oakland Fire Department said Sunday night. “That will happen in the morning.”
Firefighters were trying to figure out the best way to contain the three fires that make up the Marsh Fire complex. The fires started sometime between 4:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. on Sunday, probably due to lightning strikes.
“We saw lightning hit the hills and light it on fire, like immediately,” said Sunol resident Genevieve Banducci, who was up early Sunday driving to work from her house in Sunol when she saw bright flashes of lightning.
“We saw fires in the high, high hills and there’s only one way it would get there,” Banducci added. “There’s no roads that go up there. It had to be the lightning that struck and then there’s just fires everywhere.”
The fires were burning in rugged and remote areas high in the hills, which makes firefighting more difficult.
“We have a lot of dozers coming in and assisting and just have to use a lot of handlines,” said Brian Centoni of the Alameda County Fire Department. “This is a very rural area with very steep terrain.”
Another issue was getting enough crews onsite to fight the flames. The Red Flag Warning issued Saturday ahead of the storms allowed local fire departments to pre-position additional crews, but they’re still spread thin due to more than 10 brush fires that popped up Sunday morning in Alameda County alone.
“We did staff some extra firefighters and apparatus, so we were ready for this to happen. Obviously we didn’t expect this to happen this fierce,” Centoni said.
CalFire also continued early Monday to bring in additional resources from other areas of the state. Air support would also join the fight as soon as the aircraft had enough daylight to fly.
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August 17, 2020 at 10:31PM
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Update: Firefighters Battling To Control Marsh Creek Complex Fire; 1775 Acres Burned, 10 Homes Evacuated - CBS San Francisco
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