Sept. 09--CLAYTON -- A wildfire burning outside Mt. Diablo State Park that has forced dozens of residents and animals to evacuate grew to 1,500 acres overnight and remains about 10 percent contained, a fire spokesman said Monday morning.
The fire, which has been burning on Morgan Territory Road, forced additional evacuations late Sunday, Cal Fire spokeswoman Julie Hutchinson said.
One firefighter suffered a minor injury, she said, and a structure that Hutchinson defined as a "remote outbuilding" has been damaged by the fire.
Dennis Rein, an information officer for the Moraga Orinda Fire District, said Monday morning that the fire had reached 1,500 acres and was still only 10 percent contained.
He said 250 firefighters had been on the line overnight and were being replaced Monday morning with 500 new firefighters. Crews are gathering at Camp Parks in Dublin and are arriving from all over the region and California, he said.
East Bay Region Park District fire Lt. Mark Tait, 42 of Danville was among the replacements. The 15-year veteran said that in July, he was on the line fighting the Aspen Fire in the Sierra National Forest-High Sierra Ranger District for 11 days. He was home for 8 hours before he was then dispatched to the Rim Fire in Yosemite for 12 days.
After a week at home, he's now being dispatched to the Morgan Fire.
"This is pretty standard stuff," this time of year, he said, noting that "usually it starts down south" in Southern California where warm winds fuels summer fires.
Describing the challenges of fighting back-to-back fires, he said, "You rely on your training and a lot of coffee. A lot of coffee.
"Also you have to have a lot of support at home," he said before rushing off to gear up.
Officials planned to attack the fire by using two air tankers to drop fire retardant on the growing fire about 8 a.m. Monday, Rein said.
Other helicopters were surveying the fire and efforts from above.
One firefighter suffered a foot injury while fighting the fire overnight, Rein said.
Rein said about 100 homes had been evacuated as of Monday morning. Those homes were in danger as the fire shifted south Sunday and away from Clayton and toward the summit of Mount Diablo, Hutchinson said.
"It's kind of burning up and around" Mt. Diablo, she said.
All Sunday night horse trailers snaked up the mountain and back down, carrying horses to safety out of the fire zone.
Homeowners in the Diablo Downs neighborhood of Clayton off Mitchell Canyon Road have taken in seven horses. Larry and Valerie Sterling, who are members of the Concord Mt. Diablo Trail Ride Association, took in four horses and Pam
Hall took in two horses and a mini owned by Mike and Paulette Probst, who also evacuated four dogs and a cat.
"The horse community is really pretty tight," said Larry Sterling, as he fed hay and carrots to his new charges. "All over Clayton, you've got horse trailers hooked up and ready to go, ready to help people."
The Probsts and some other families stayed in sleeping areas of their trailers overnight, but may go stay with friends and leave their horses, if they are not allowed to return to their homes tonight, they said.
"We had a neighborhood sleepover," said Valerie Sterling, with a smile.
At the American Red Cross evacuation center in the Clayton library, spokesman Jim Mallory said three families were put up in hotels overnight and lunch will be served to evacuees at noon today by the Salvation Army at another location. Mallory urged anyone who wants to make a donation to visit www.redcross.org.
Larry and Caryn LeGate said they left their home on Trail Ride yesterday afternoon just after the fire started to go out of town. When they returned last night, firefighters wouldn't let them go back, so they stayed in a hotel. This morning, firefighters allowed them to drive back up to their home, where they retrieved their toothbrushes and some clothes, they said.
The couple said they wouldn't feel safe staying in their home right now because smoke could been seen coming over a nearby ridge.
Laura Hoffmeister, assistant to the City Manager in Clayton, said about 20 people came to the evacuation center yesterday, including many who needed to recharge their cell phones as they tried to make arrangements for places to stay. She said horses have also been evacuated to Heather Farm Park in Walnut Creek and to the Antioch fairgrounds. One family, she said, had to evacuate several sheep and goats before they returned to get their horses.
Renae Parker, who owns Buena Amor Stables in unincorporated Pleasanton, said she took in seven horses last night and has room for 20 more. She urged anyone who is interested to call her at 925-248-1990.
"If I can help anybody out," she said, "it's awesome."
Alameda County Fire spokeswoman Aisha Knowles, who was stationed at Camp Parks, said there were no immediate plans for more evacuations.
She said crews would be working Monday to create eight miles of a containment zone using bulldozers and hand-crews.
"The biggest challenges are access, the combination of very dry fuels, steep and rocky terrain, and having been through a drought," she said.
She said the magnitude of the fire should be a reminder to residents to make sure they have at least 100 feet of "defensible space" of a cleared vegetation around structures.
"A large fire like this emphasizes that fire safety is everyone's business," Knowles said.
Dan Gannad, spokesman for Camp Parks, a U.S. Army mobilization and training center for reserve forces, was set up Monday morning as the base camp where firefighters will be able to check in, sleep, eat, pick up supplies and more.
"We have the facilities and the support structure," he said. "In the middle of all this civilization we have all this open land and we're happy to provide it."
Knowles said support and personnel for the camp is being provided by local and state fire agencies, with a Cal Fire specialized team expected to take command Monday evening. The Salvation Army of Concord is providing food, she said.
The fire is the largest near Mount Diablo in recent memory.
Follow Rick Hurd at Twitter.com/3rdERH and Theresa Harrington at Twitter.com/tunedtotheresa.
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