China Peak becomes Forest Service base as Garnet Fire explodes in size

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- With the Garnet Fire forcing evacuations not acold from Shaver Lake, the U.S. Forest Service is staging a basal to the north.

"They are readying connected moving most, if not all, their unit up present astatine China Peak," China Peak General Manager Troy Cohee said.

The edifice has rescheduled 4 weddings arsenic employees hole for the accomplishment of astir 3,000 firefighters.

"They're really talking astir moving the incidental bid halfway up here, truthful it'll bring rather a spot much personnel," Cohee said. "We've been proceeding talks of doubly the unit arsenic we saw during the Creek Fire."

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Action News was determination arsenic 1 of the archetypal Forest Service trucks rolled in. Officials surveyed what volition soon beryllium home.

The bulk could get precocious Monday and passim the remainder of the week. Upon arrival, they volition brushwood heavy fume with little than a mile of visibility and raining ash.

"Luckily for them, we person fundamentally everything they request up here," Cohee said. "We've got full, afloat parking batch facilities. We've got net infrastructure. We've got h2o and grey h2o successful the full 9 yards."

The determination to China Peak comes arsenic the occurrence exploded successful size implicit the weekend, pushing past 50,000 acres.

"It is holding connected the superior line," Garnet Fire Public Information Officer Jay Tracy confirmed to Action News.

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Crews are establishing 2nd and adjacent 3rd lines of defense.

"We'll bring successful dozers," Tracy said. "We'll bring successful hand-crews to enactment successful line, and past we'll further bolster those with, actually, hose lines astatine times."

As firefighters enactment to clasp the line, the edifice is besides preparing for the worst-case scenario. Cohee is filling the snow-making reservoir with water.

"[We're] counting connected and expecting CAL FIRE and [the] Forest Service to get a grip connected this occurrence and hopefully dilatory it down, and get immoderate crook successful the luck," Cohee said. "Some colder temperatures should assistance out."

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