Bible Fire Scorches 30 Acres
Cal Fire crews and El Dorado County firefighters battled a grass fire that burned 30 acres of brush Wednesday afternoon.
The so-called Bible Fire began at 2:34 p.m., along Mt. Aukum Road, near Pioneer Bible Church in Somerset. Crews utilized a helicopter to drop buckets of water on the fire and gained full containment on the flames at 4:45 p.m. No injuries were reported and the cause of the fire is under investigation.
It's been a particularly busy fire season for Cal Fire personnel. The Butts Fire that began on June 1 in rural Napa County burned 4,300 acres, destroyed two residences and seven outbuildings, and injured 4 people before crews gained full containment of it. The Monticello Fire continues to burn at the southeast shore of Lake Berryessa with firefighters achieving 86 percent containment of the fire as of 6 a.m., Thursday. So far, flames have burned 6,488 acres and there have been five people reportedly injured because of the fire.
"Crews will continue to work in steep, rugged terrain to improve containment lines and eliminate hotspots within the fire perimeter," Cal Fire incident web site read. "As containment of the fire increases, resources will transition to repair efforts while others will be demobilized. All public roadways in the fire area have been reopened. Infrastructure repair in the area is continuing and crews may be working near the roads. Please drive cautiously."