FRESNO, Calif. — Critically dry fuels and an abundance of dead trees continue to fuel the Creek Fire and SQF Complex Fire in the Sierra Nevada range on the east side of the central San Joaquin Valley.
The Creek Fire, burning in the Sierra National Forest in eastern Fresno and Madera counties, is already the fourth-largest wildfire incident in California history. Its footprint was estimated at 380,345 acres as of Sunday morning. It is also among the 20 most destructive wildfires ever in the state, having destroyed more than 850 structures since it started Sept. 4.
The cause remains under investigation.
The SQF Complex in the Sequoia National Forest in eastern Tulare County stood at 170,165 acres as of Sunday morning, and ranks 18th in size among the state's historic wildfires dating to the early 1930s.
Incident commanders on both fires reported that dry vegetation, including dead trees and foliage on the forest floor, are feeding their modest growth.
The most active area of the Creek Fire is in the northeastern part of the fire perimeter, near Vermilion Cliffs north of Edison Lake in Fresno County. While the fire is not growing rapidly – adding only about 340 acres since Saturday – U.S. Forest Service fire behavior analyst Byron Kimball said, "There's still lots of potential for this fire to stand up and move around with winds coming."
More than 960 firefighters remain assigned to the Creek Fire, as well as dozens of excavators, bulldozers and other equipment being used to build and maintain a containment line around the fire. As of Sunday, lines had been constructed around 70% of the fire, and full containment is expected in about two weeks.
On the SQF Complex, lines have been built around 80% of the fire's perimeter, but full containment is not expected until mid- to late December.
The firefighting effort includes the Castle and Shotgun fires, both of which were sparked by lightning on Aug. 19 and soon combined into the SQF Complex. On Saturday, firefighters dropped water on the southern part of another fire, the Rattlesnake Fire, to keep it from moving south and joining with the Castle Fire.
A total of 335 people are assigned to the SQF Complex.
