River bottom fire in Madera County finally contained. Here’s the final acreage total

Firefighters needed more than seven hours Sunday to complete containment of a blaze that broke out along the Madera side of the San Joaquin River bottom.

It began about 11:40 a.m. near Rio Mesa and Children’s Boulevard in Madera County and eventually grew to 42 acres by the late afternoon. Madera’s Cal Fire unit reported full containment just before 7 p.m.

Nine engines, two water tenders and two crews were involved in the effort.

Firefighters also were dispatched along the Fresno County side of the river, off Rice Road near Friant Avenue, to deal with a series of small fires created by embers that were carrying across the waterway.

Included in the firefighting effort were engines from the Fresno city and Fresno County fire departments, a wildland engine and a National Guard Fire crew from Millerton Station.

This story was originally published September 19, 2021 at 1:37 PM.