Evacuation Orders Lifted For Irving Fire In Marin County
MARIN COUNTY (CBS SF) – The evacuation orders issued for the Irving Fire in Marin County were lifted early Tuesday evening, according to Marin County Fire officials.
The announcement was made via the Marin Fire Twitter account at about 5 p.m. Officials noted that some areas were still without power and that residents should contact PG&E for additional info.
#IrvingFire Update: all evacuation orders are now lifted! All roads have been reopened, though some homes will be without power until noon tomorrow, including the 200 & 300 blocks of Arroyo and the 100 block of Portola. Please contact @PGE4Me for additional outage info.
— Marin County Fire (@marincountyfire) September 12, 2018
The fire burning near Samuel P. Taylor State Park in Marin County was 35 percent contained as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Cal Fire officials.
Cal Fire posted the update about the fire shortly before 1 p.m.
#IrvingFire [update] at Samuel P Taylor State Park, northwest of the Community of Lagunitas (Marin County) per @marincountyfire is now 115 acres and 35% contained. https://t.co/BMUyB7yw3v pic.twitter.com/XuV6q48Qm6
— CAL FIRE (@CAL_FIRE) September 11, 2018
No structures have been damaged and the threat to them is decreasing, spokeswoman Laine Hendricks said.
"We hope to lift the evacuation orders as soon as possible," Hendricks said.
Fire vehicles from all around Northern California are situated around Samuel P. Taylor State Park Tuesday afternoon in case the Irving Fire really takes off.
A view from Chopper 5 shows some of the more than 100 acres that have burned so far.
The Irving Fire started just outside of the park at around 7 p.m. Monday night and quickly advanced toward dozens of homes in Lagunitas and Upper Forest Knoll.
"It was 100 feet high. Right up there on the hill. It was terrifying," said evacuee Dave Cort.
Firefighters now estimate the fire has burned 115 acres. The new estimate is based on an overhead survey of the fire, Hendricks said.
Firefighters worked on steep inclines into the early morning hours.
"It's not just the terrain, it's heavy brush," said Marin County Fire Deputy Fire Chief Mark Brown.
Only 100 of them were able to make it to the fire Monday night, leaving engine companies doing double duty.
"They're having to hold the hose and cut the line, so the going was very slow," explained Brown.
On Tuesday, the manpower of the crews fighting the fire has doubled, but the firefighters are exhausted.
"The fire crews over here, they drove through the night and got three hours of sleep after working all day yesterday," said Brown. "And we're expecting them to work through the day today because that's all that we have."
The people whose homes are still threatened Tuesday were thankful for their hard work.
"Our hearts go out to them," said Cort. "They were up there saving our wonderful community."
Lagunitas Elementary School at 1 Lagunitas School Road in San Geronimo is closed because staff and students who were evacuated were not able to report to school, county fire officials said.
Evacuation orders were issued Monday night for residents on Mountain King Road, Portola Avenue and Alamo Way to Arroyo Road to Barranca Road.
About 150 personnel from Cal Fire, Santa Rosa, Sonoma Valley and Tomales are fighting the fire, Hendricks said.
Marin Fire says the cause of the blaze is under investigation.
KPIX 5 found PG&E crews and fire officials inspecting downed power lines in the area firefighters say it started.
KPIX cameras captured footage of crews gathering a spool of line as well as a power pole without a power line.
© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. and Bay City News Service. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.