From: State EAS Program, California OES

SACRAMENTO - When the Creek Fire in Mariposa County broke through its

containment line Monday (August 20), 65 fire engines from across the
state were already staged nearby. They had been called in during the
previous night by the Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES),
part of the 290 engines dispatched  statewide through California's
Fire and RescueMutual Aid System, coordinated by OES.

	OES called in engines from as far south as San Diego and as
far north as Mt. Shasta to a staging area in the city of Madera. The
wildland and structure-protection engines had been trickling in since

1 a.m. to be on hand as needed. All 65 were, in fact, needed at 11
a.m., when winds picked up and sent the 4,000-acre Creek Fire in
Mariposa County through its containment line.

	The Creek Fire moved north at about noon, leading to
evacuation orders affect 15-20 homes on Jackass Ridge Road and
additional houses on Harper Road. To the north, residents of
Groveland and Big Oak Flat were advised to evacuate as a precaution.
To assist the four communities, the American Red Cross opened a
shelter at the Coulterville Community Center in Mariposa County.

	In all, OES has committed 90 of its own engines, 200 local
engines (cities, counties and special fire districts) and 11
California National Guard helicopters to fight four California
wildfires.  Those fires are:

?	Creek Fire in Mariposa and Tuolumne counties at 4,000 acres,
50% contained with 21 OES and local government engines. Since the
fire started 5 p.m. on Saturday, it has injured 3 and threatened 3000

homes.
?	Ponderosa Fire in Placer County which is 2,440 acres and 50%
contained, with 80 OES and local engines. Since the fire started at 2

p.m., Friday, it has threatened 200 homes and led to at least 18
injuries.
?	Leonard Fire in Calaveras County, which is 3,000 acres, 10 %
contained, with 70 OES and local engines.
	Since the fire started at 2:15 p.m. on Friday, no injuries,
300 homes threatened, evacuations in progress.
?	Highway Fire in Fresno County which is 120 acres, 0%
contained, with 10 OES and local engines. Since the fire started at
6:45 p.m. on Sunday, threatening 12 homes and six outbuildings.

	OES coordinates state-level emergency preparedness, response,

recovery and mitigation for a wide range of natural and human-caused
emergencies and disasters.  As part of its responsibilities, OES
coordinates the state's Fire and Rescue Mutual Aid System.  Through
this 'neighbor helping neighbor' system, fire-fighting resources from

throughout the state can be called on to support  local governments,
and work with other state and federal fire agencies.		     

For more information contact:
Sheryl Tankersley, Eric Lamoureux or Steve Dakota at (916) 262-1843

EDIS-08-20-01 1832 PDT


---------------------------------------------------------
To update or terminate your subscription to this email service
visit our webpage at http://www.incident.com/edismail.html.
Please DO NOT reply to this message: replies may be treated as
errors and result in your subscription being deleted.  For
non-subscription queries, email <edistrouble@incident.com>. We
cannot process subscription, unsubscribe or selection-change
requests via email: please use the webpage for those requests.

EDIS is operated by the Governor's Office of Emergency Services, 
State of California. This email relay is offered by incident.com 
as a public service. Because of the complexity of this system and
its dependence on other systems, we cannot be responsible for 
delays or failures in transmission. 
---------------------------------------------------------