UPDATED Sept. 23, 2:35 p.m.:
The U.S. Forest Service (USFS) states in their Creek Fire Incident Update that the fire has now burned a total of 289,695 acres and is at 32% containment after eighteen days of being active.
In Madera County, the USFS reports that fire crews have been able to put forth an effective routine due to the consistency of the North Zones weather pattern over the past week.
Due to this, air resources have been used at maximum effort. Helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft have been able to implement water droppings and the dropping of fire retardant along the teams constructed dozer lines to help minimize fire activity.
The Madera County Sheriff’s Office, via Facebook, announced that evacuation warnings for six zones have been lifted as of today, Sept. 23. These zones include M21 (Parcels of Paradise), M23 (Manzanita Lake Area), M24 (Bass Lake Annex), M25 (South Shore of Bass Lake), M55 (Crass Drive) and M56 (Dorsten Drive). For more information, the Madera County webpage has provided the public with a fire map that can be found here.
For Fresno County, the USFS stated active burning occurred in the South Zone of the fire during the operational period south of Mount Tom.
The fire progressed toward Portal Forebay due to the torching of heavy fuels and timber that took place within this area.
The USFS also reported in their Incident Report that due to the fire progression and its potential to reach Portal Forebay, the incident task force will make tactical patrol in all areas the priority for today’s schedule.
Tactical patrol will include cleaning up areas of the Creek Fire that are still showing signs of open flame, smoldering and smoke as well as ensuring any structures in potential jeopardy are safe from damage if the fire were to have an effect on their communities.
Although active burning has taken place in the South Zone, Fresno County has stated many areas may begin to repopulate as evacuation orders are lifted to warnings and various evacuation warnings are lifted completely.
A list of these updates can be found here on the USFS’ webpage.
Incident briefings will continue tomorrow, Sept. 24, at 7:00 p.m. on the USFS Facebook page.