Wind-driven wildfire east of San Francisco forces evacuation orders, burns 12,500 acres

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. -- California firefighters aided by craft battled a wind-driven wildfire that began Saturday and continued burning aboriginal Sunday greeting successful an country straddling the San Francisco Bay Area and cardinal California, authorities said.

The Corral Fire began Saturday day adjacent the metropolis of Tracy, 60 miles (96 kilometers) eastbound of San Francisco, and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory successful the metropolis of Livermore, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, oregon Cal Fire.

Dark plumes of fume traveled precocious into the entity implicit the occurrence country comprised mostly of grassy hills, wherever beardown winds were expected to proceed overnight.

Early Sunday, Cal Fire updated the size of the occurrence to 12,500 acres with 15% contained, which accrued from an earlier study of astir 11,000 acres burned.

Interstate 580, which connects the San Francisco Bay Area to San Joaquin County successful cardinal California, was closed successful some directions from Corral Hollow Road to Interstate 5 owed to the deficiency of visibility from the smoke, the California Department of Transportation said successful a statement.

Cal Fire Santa Clara Unit Chief Baraka Carter said 2 occurrence workers were injured, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services issued an evacuation order, pinpointing the wildfire successful an country eastbound of Interstate 580. Residents betwixt Corral Hollow Road and Tracy Boulevard were ordered to permission their homes, with residents southbound of Tracy Boulevard told to beryllium prepared for evacuation.

An evacuation update included areas westbound of the California Aqueduct southbound of Corral Hollow Creek, westbound to Alameda County and southbound to Stanislaus County. A impermanent evacuation constituent was established astatine Larch Clover Community Center successful Tracy, the region exigency services bureau said connected its website.

The wildfire was adjacent the Lawrence Livermore laboratory's Site 300 southwest of Tracy, Cal Fire said successful a societal media station precocious Saturday.

Lawrence Livermore is simply a probe and improvement instauration chiefly focusing connected the U.S. atomic weapons stockpile. Site 300, 15 miles (24 kilometers) eastbound of the laboratory's main installation, supports "development of explosive materials arsenic good arsenic hydrodynamic investigating and diagnostics," according to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory website.

"Here, our researchers tin safely formulate, fabricate, and trial high-explosive assemblies to measure the show of nonnuclear limb prototypes and components," the website says of Site 300.

The wildfire presented nary threats to immoderate laboratory facilities oregon operations and the occurrence had moved distant from the site, Lawrence Livermore spokesperson Paul Rhien said successful a connection to The Associated Press aboriginal Sunday.

"We person been moving successful adjacent concern with Cal Fire, Alameda County Fire Dept, and different exigency services partners passim the evening," Rhien said. "As a precaution, we person activated our exigency operations halfway to show the concern done the weekend."