Firefighters on Sunday were working to get the upper hand after a wildfire exploded to 14,000 acres Saturday, burning at least one home, shutting down two freeways and keeping an area southwest of Tracy under mandatory evacuations amid strong winds.
The Corral Fire started around 3 p.m. Saturday along Corral Hollow Road on the border of Alameda and San Joaquin counties, on land used by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Site 300, a facility that once developed explosives material and other ordnance. It was not clear what started the blaze, said Cal Fire’s Santa Clara unit, which is in unified command with Alameda County Fire Department teams.
“Strong winds and dry grass have made it difficult to contain,” Cal Fire SCU said in its Sunday morning update.
At least two firefighters were treated for minor injuries Saturday, said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Josh Silveira.
Before noon Sunday, westbound lanes of Interstate 580 were reopened, reconnecting Interstate 5 — a major arterial for between Southern California and Bay Area — with Altamont Pass. Caltrans District 10 officials said eastbound lanes would remain closed between I-205 and I-5 to help firefighting efforts. Highway 132 was also reopened after being shut down for about 17 hours.
Between the fire’s start and midnight, the wind-whipped blaze leaped to 10,000 acres and burned one home and several outbuildings and vehicles. During a Sunday morning update, officials said the fire had scorched 14,116 acres and was 15% contained as crews worked against another day of strong southwesterly winds pushing flames against residential areas along Interstate 580.
Away from the winds and smoke that hung over the fire some 8 miles away, an American flag wrapped around the flagpole outside Larch Clover Community Center in north Tracy.
Five volunteers sat inside the community center next to tables filled with water bottles, Blue Diamond almonds and “flaming hot” beef jerky. Despite the provisions, only four people had come in for services on Sunday as of 11:30 a.m., a volunteer said.
Approximately 25 had come in on Saturday, mainly to get information, before moving on to area hotels.
In a morning update, firefighters said “weather conditions became more favorable for firefighters, allowing crews to make progress constructing and improving control lines.”
Winds in the area were fierce overnight. At nearly Altamont Pass, southwest winds hovered around 40 mph with gusts to 50 mph recorded about 3 a.m. Winds at the San Joaquin-Stanislaus county line were gusting to 25 mph, according to sensor readings collected by the National Weather Service.
Idamis Shoemaker, a meteorologist at the weather service’s Sacramento office, said winds during the day were expected to remain between 20 and 30 mph but strong winds were expected to pick back up into the evening in the fire area.
Shoemaker said gusts in the general area of the fire could reach 35 mph, which is normal for this time of year as onshore breezes push over the coastal mountains and down into the Central Valley.
As aerial crews flew in at daybreak to help the more than 400 personnel on the ground fight the blaze, an evacuation order remained in place for a wide area of farmland and several suburban tracts south of Tracy. The San Joaquin County Office Of Emergency Services said mandatory evacuations would likely remain through the day for areas west of the California Aqueduct, south of Corral Hollow Creek, west to the Alameda County line and south to the Stanislaus County line.
Authorities said officials were also watching for flames north of Corral Hollow, away from homes, but remained focused on a subdivision south along Vernalis Road, just south of Highway 132 and near the Tracy Golf and Country Club. One home in the area was reportedly burned overnight, along with several outbuildings and an abandoned home and barn.
Several homes nearby remained without power after fire knocked down lines Saturday, Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said. PG&E also said firefighters had asked for some lines to be de-energized. As many as 3,800 ratepayers were in the dark Saturday night, only about 160 remained interrupted, the utility said.
An evacuation shelter remained open at the Larch Clover Community Center, 11157 W. Larch Road. County officials also hosted an animal evacuation center at the Manteca Education & Training Center, 2271 W. Louise Ave.
A team of investigators was expected on scene near Site 300 to begin investigating what sparked the fire, Cal Fire said.
Fire officials said previous prescribed burns in the area initially helped to slow the spread but no prescribed fire plans were started or burning on Saturday, said Cheryl Hurd, a spokesperson for Alameda County Fire.
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