Mop Up Underway On Area Fires

The mop-up effort is now underway for those two brush fires in the Mother Lode today.

There were some tense moments as a fire burned over two acres in the Blue Creek area in Calaveras County. A CDF helicopter was being used to help out the fire crews with an eye in the sky.

And a fire off Big Hill Road near Columbia had some area residents worried for a while this morning as well. Dawn Palmonari lives in the area on Rocky Top Road. She said she´s saw a lot of smoke and flames down the hill from the old Hatler Saw Mill. “It was a little too close for comfort,” she said.

It took firefighters most of the morning to deal with the blazes.

The 2004 fire season officially begins at 8 a.m. Monday for the Mother Lode region. Last year the local fire season didn´t begin until June 2nd.