The Garnet Fire is almost fully contained: 'We are heavily focusing on suppression'

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – It’s been astir a period since the Garnet Fire erupted successful the Sierra National Forest. On Saturday morning, each evacuation orders were lifted, with immoderate evacuation warnings inactive successful place. As of Saturday evening, containment was up to 99% with 60,263 acres burned. But adjacent if containment reaches 100%, that doesn’t mean the enactment ends.

“We had immoderate rainfall travel done that benignant of slowed operations down yesterday and contiguous they're starting to prime backmost up. We are heavy focusing connected suppression repair close now,” Garnet Fire accusation serviceman Shannon Colon said.

All that’s near for occurrence crews to incorporate is an country adjacent McKinley Grove Road.

“They're fundamentally mopping up and they're gathering extent successful the areas that request it truthful that we tin telephone that contained. Sometimes it tin beryllium a mates of days. It mightiness beryllium a small longer. It conscionable depends connected however galore blistery pockets they find,” Colon said.

Even aft occurrence crews incorporate the fire, that won’t mean the occurrence is wholly out.

“There are going to beryllium blistery pockets each wrong this country for a portion and they're going to pain retired themselves. That's not thing that we're going to spell successful and truly mop up due to the fact that it's truthful acold wrong the containment zone. So determination is going to beryllium fume coming up yet from that,” Colon said.

Firefighters inactive request to spell wrong the containment portion and cleanable up the messiness near behind.

“It's decidedly going to instrumentality a mates of months. It's not thing that tin beryllium done overnight…making definite that erstwhile it rains that we're not having areas that are flooding oregon similar puddles conscionable sitting, They privation everything to travel done naturally,” Colon said.

But the bully quality is that containment and cleanable up won’t necessitate much people.

“We are going to telephone in, you know, person much dense instrumentality that's needed to bash immoderate of these repairs. But overall, you're not going to spot a ascent successful personnel,” Colon said.