Firefighters make progress against Fork Fire. Here’s when it could be fully contained
The Fork Fire that has been burning since Wednesday afternoon near North Fork in eastern Madera County grew little as firefighters appeared to make solid progress and expect to have the wildfire out by the weekend.
As of Thursday evening, the Fork Fire expanded just 7 acres since the morning and was at 780 acres. In addition, containment on the Fork Fire grew from 5% in the morning to 20% in the evening.
Cal Fire projected Thursday night that the Fork Fire could be fully contained by Saturday.
Nonetheless, 1,089 structures remain threatened, Cal Fire said.
The wildfire remained active throughout Thursday with uphill runs. There were also isolated torching and short-range spotting.
Cal Fire added that vegetation was “extremely receptive to embers, and fuel moisture remains historically low.”
Firefighters continued to construct and reinforce control lines to defend structures.
No structures have been destroyed or damaged. And there have not been any fatalities or injuries reported.
Road closures remained in place at:
- Road 222 @ Road 222 (Road 222 Closed)
- Road 222 @ Carmen Ranch Road (Road 222 Closed)
- Road 225 @ Cascadel Drive (Road 225 Closed)
- Road 222 @ Tera Tera Ranch Road (Road 225 Closed)
- Road 228 @ Road 225 (Road 228 Closed)
- Wakova Lane @ Road 225 (Wakova Lane Closed)
- De Na Lane @ Road 225 (De Na Lane Closed)
Evacuation orders and warnings were listed on an interactive map at community.zonehaven.com.
There are evacuation shelters at the Oakhurst Community Center, 39800 Fresno Flats Road, and Oakhurst Evangelical Free Church, 50443 High School Road, both in Oakhurst. Red Cross volunteers are providing evacuees with a place to stay, food and water, and other resources, according to officials.
People can sign up for emergency alerts from Madera County at MCAlert.org, or by texting their ZIP code to 888777.
This story was originally published September 8, 2022 at 8:26 PM.